A B C... Life at the Beginning of the Alphabet

Ketchup...

2009-06-27T13:38:00.001-05:00

or catch up, if you will. I can't believe it's been 5 months. Before I get to my excuses, I'll just say hello. I've loved reading all your posts, about new babies, new jobs, pregnancies. It's all wonderfully exciting, so keep it coming.

So, to my two sweetest, most adorable excuses ever...

Dragonfly is still a big boy... he is over 23 pounds and almost 31 inches at 9 months, which is 99th percentile in weight and 99th in height. He is wearing 18 month clothes and looks like he could easily be at least one. He sits up and is getting up on his hands and knees to crawl, but hasn't yet made any forward progress yet. Dragonfly loves his forays into the world of solid food, but still nurses a few times a day. He is sweet and loves to cuddle and is also very sensitive. I try to be very mindful of this when I talk sternly to Love Bug. If I'm not careful, just a small change in my tone of voice sends him into tears. But as sensitive as he is emotionally, he is still extremely physically strong and sturdy. I imagine myself hugging my teddy bear of a boy one day, who surely, with the doctors quick calculations, will be easily 6'3" or 6'4", maybe more.

Love Bug is only a few pounds more than Dragonfly, despite their 23 month age difference! She is wild and outgoing, and loves to run, climb, jump, and dance... especially DANCE. She isn't sensitive in any sense of the word, laughing off discipline and just jumping up from hard falls before I can even express worry. Love Bug also doesn't have a bit of jealousy in her. I didn't know what to expect when it came to having a younger brother, but she just adores him. She thrills in making him laugh and is eager to share her toys and hug him. It warms my heart. Although I've always been cautious about TV and movie watching, she just insists on watching High School Musical once a week and now she's into the movie soundtrack from Mamma Mia. Love Bug walks around the house singing 'Dancing Queen' most of the time. I've given up on her learning numbers and letters for now... she just isn't interested. Most of her life revolves around physical activity anyway, so why fight it. And with college costs going up each day, maybe have all my kids on athletic scholarships isn't a bad thing to push! :-) We've actually been working on throwing and catching, since it's something she loves to do. She met some lacrosse players recently (we attend a lot of sporting events) and I couldn't believe how well she could use the sticks and actually caught the ball one time and threw it back. This is especially pleasing because we'll eventually end up at our place back in Maryland (just outside of Annapolis) and lacrosse is everything there!

I also just spent 6 weeks in the US. My husband had to go to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for work and I decided to go home to visit my Mom, rather than deal with two kids alone for that long. It was wonderful to see her and we were able to visit most of our family, as well as my husband's, but it was hard to be away from B for so long. I kept busy with trips to the zoo, aquarium, and visits to see old friends, and my cousin sent me the 'Twilight' series, since she had been telling me for months to read it. I did and I loved it. Of course, it made me miss my husband even more. Reading such a sweet love story, with a sensitive guy like Edward, made me miss my sensitive husband and reminded me of what a sweet love story we have. We've had a few heart to hearts now that we're all home, and he's decided to skip these long trips for the next few years and take a few short ones instead. I understand his reasons for the long trip this year, and last year to India, but I think he agrees that it's just too hard to be apart that long. He misses the kids, eats terribly, and doesn't sleep well without me there, so it wasn't hard to convince him.

Other excuses... another one could be my new found desire to take care of myself sometimes too. I woke up on my thirtieth birthday feeling pretty bummed, but didn't know yet what I could do to change that. After my husband had a fantastic surprise party for me and gave me a new guitar, I realized what I wanted. So I made a list of 30 things (since I was turning 30) that I would like to accomplish before I turn 31. Some things have already been accomplished, like getting involved in charity work and learning how to bake bread like my mother-in-law. Some things aren't even close, like learning to like tomatoes. I tried, really I did! And learning to snowboard isn't close either, mainly due to the nice weather. My husband has promised a weeks worth of lessons when we go skiing this winter, and I plan to take him up on that. As much as I love to ski, I will gladly skip it to finally snowboard... I've been dreaming about this for years.

Most things on my list (about 23 of them) are in progress. One is getting rid of all my thyroid/baby weight. I'm happy to report that I've lost 31 pounds, and have another 22 to lose. I owe it all to jazzercise and Weight Watchers. I also am taking guitar lessons and practicing piano (I play both, but want to be much better) and I'm taking Italian as well. And I'm slowly getting more involved at church and praying more.

So, most of the time, when I'm not trying to be a good wife and mother, I'm working on myself and my 'list'. I hope you all take time to be good to yourself. Blogging still isn't enough of a priority to promise I'll update soon, but I'll come back when I can. Maybe when I finish my 30 things? We'll see...

Where have I been?

2009-01-27T09:19:00.003-06:00

Well, first of all, last Saturday was my 30th birthday! I was treated to a manicure and pedicure by my husband, but that wasn't actually the celebration. It was a way to get me out of the house. While I was gone, about 10 of my girlfriends came over and decorated and prepared food (and helped him with the kids). I came home to a surprise party of about 40 friends! It was so much fun and such a great surprise.

Now that we've been home for about 6 weeks, I've been getting back into a schedule and I'm including a lot more educational activities for Love Bug. She is finally making more connections between English and French, and as a result, both languages have taken huge leaps. She didn't really know any colors or numbers like other kids her age, but now she is finally getting them, and in both languages.

We're also doing more activities outside the house, going on playdates, going to the park. We've gotten more involved in church and I might even join the choir after a few years away- yeah! On top of that, I've gotten involved in Chemo Angels and I'm also doing community service here in Italy.

So, where does this leave blogging? Sadly at the bottom of a very long list. More and more I'm realizing how much fun I have when time with my family is uninterrupted. It's similar to how I don't use a cell phone much. I set aside an hour each morning to send emails before my kids get up and I also make a few phone calls each Sunday- to my brother, aunts, cousins, or close friends. (I also call my Mom every other day.) This is my time to keep in touch, and otherwise, I try to just keep life simple.

Just this week, Love Bug and I were making Valentine's to send to family and friends. We used old gift bags that were a little wrinkled or old, since so many have flowers or hearts- perfect for a Valentine. We cut them out and started decorating with paint, markers, stickers, ribbon. Then, I thought I should share this on my blog (I've been in a funk lately and needed something to post about). I started to take pictures and choreograph our crafting. But it wasn't working. I was taking time away from Love Bug and her activities to do this. (And I would probably take more time away from her to post about it and get it just right.)

I've often thought about posting the funny things that happen to me in Italy or writing about the neat places we travel. But by the time I tell my Mom, laugh about it at dinner with a few friends, and fall into bed, the blog gets neglected again. I keep a travel journal and make photo books, and those are important to me, to keep a hard copy of what we've done in our family.

So, what I'm trying to say, is that I think blogging must go off my schedule. I've mentioned taking some time off before, but now I think it may be more permanent. But I love you guys, my little group of faithful readers, so I know it will be hard to stay away. We'll see how this works with my life and I'll try to stop by once a month until I decide how permanent this is for sure.

Our Christmas...

2009-01-16T23:57:00.007-06:00

Welcome to a little tour of our apartment at Christmas... it's about 3 weeks late, but I'm still proud of my decorating. I got it all arranged about two days after we got home, even with two jet-lagged children. This is a view of our foyer and I put up garlands in different doorways all over the house, but I made sure to put one in every doorway of the foyer to make it more festive. You can see far in the background ornaments dangling from the curtain rod. I usually hang ornaments from my chandeliers, but the one in the living room is too low, so I hung them on the curtain rod instead.

Our tree in the living room... it turned out really pretty this year after I found new ribbon to go with the cranberry garland.

This is a view of the dining room from the living room. I have my red ornaments hanging from the chandelier and my dishes are red with silver snowflakes on them. I even have matching snowflake napkin rings and silver chargers. I'll have to do a close up of the table next year.

These are our stockings... we need to find a better place for them. Any suggestions?

A high school friend's parents always used to put bows on top of all the pictures in their house. So I decided to copy the idea a few years ago and bought 60 bows. I used almost all of them, since we have a lot on our walls, but the effect seems worth it to me!

I put our advent calendar on top of the piano, along with some of my nutcrackers. I have over 70 in my collection and you can see them in different photos- along all the windowsills, on top of the crystal cabinet, and other furniture.

We've bought a White House ornament every year and I love them. I wish you could see it better, but the light and close ups are a difficult combination.

This is "La Belfana"... the witch who brings children gifts here in Italy. I think they must have gotten Halloween and Christmas confused here. She's not too scary in the ornament we bought, but some are just ghoulish. We went to a Christmas market and saw some that shake and cackle, and even a few with sparkling red eyes.

My husband buys me (and now Love Bug since her arrival) a snowflake or star crystal ornament every year. I love all of them, but this one from Waterford is special given the company's struggling financial situation. I hope they can improve and don't have to close. I'd hate to think this is my last ornament from there.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T15:56:00.007-06:00

Sorry that I haven't been online, but I can't believe all we've done in just under two weeks!

We've decorated the tree, put up other decorations, sent almost 100 Christmas cards, and gone to Holiday parties. Even more importantly, we made almost 30 dozen cookies to pass out to friends as gifts, wrapped presents and did lots of great stuff witht he kids! We made gingerbread house (see below) and went to Christmas markets. It is so much fun watching the kids discover Christmas. More pictures to come, but a sample for now...

Prayers for a safe flight...

2008-12-11T14:26:00.002-06:00

We're going home tomorrow, so please pray for a safe and easy flight. I hope Love Bug will enjoy some movies and have fun with her Col.or Wond.er Fingerpaints. I hope Dragonfly sleeps a lot. But mostly I hope and pray we get there safely... and so does all our luggage.

Taking Christmas Card Pictures

2008-12-08T00:02:00.005-06:00

Well, I thought that having two kids was pretty easy, but that was before I decided to try and take Christmas card pictures! Two-year-olds are generally not known for their cooperation, but Love Bug (I thought) was pretty agreeable and docile. Ahhh, I think I started to cry about 50 times during this process. Here are some lov-er-ly photos from our different attempts:

"Do not attempt to bribe me with cookies, because I'll figure out a way to get them BEFORE I smile!"

"Oh, he's crying so maybe I'll kiss him! That will be a really cute picture!"

"I'm not holding him either!"

And here's a beee-u-tiful one from my Mom's attempts:

Finally, we had success, but only if we held them both for more control! You can see that lovely picture as our new profile pic. I was officially going to boycott being in the pictures, but there was no way around it.

Good luck to all of you in your photo taking adventures!

We're going home... I think!

2008-12-03T14:15:00.003-06:00

My weeks as a medical mystery are finally over. My doctor still wants to double check a few things and has called some experts to consult. Basically, my hypothyroidism is probably linked to some other low hormones and we're working out which ones and when I'll need to start treatment. It's all early stages, nothing needs to be done now, but I'm reading up and trying to avoid becoming a walking experiment in hormone replacement.

The cause of all this mess? Stress... and no one I know is surprised. I'm the most stressed person I know. I'm always trying to do more and fit more in a day. Hence the reason this blog is falling by the wayside. I'm working on eating better and exercising more. I've been getting massages and I'm starting yoga again when we get home. I'm a person who needs yoga to be balanced and normal and I think my medical problems reflect this. Certainly my doctors are fantastic and medicine is important, but I can prevent further damage to my body with meditation and de-stressing activities. I'm also, as much as I hate it, cutting out more and more unnecessary tasks from my life.

The other thing I need? More service to others. I did a lot with my church growing up and then joined a service group in college and have always enjoyed helping others. We tithe to our church and give money to organizations we feel are important, but I want to physically do something instead of throwing money at problems. I love helping others and hope to take the kids so they can learn that this is a good habit in our lives. It forces us to think about others instead of ourselves and really look at the blessings in our life. This will be a challenge in Italy, since I don't speak much Italian, but I'm going to go to my church first and see where I can find more service opportunities from there.

B is back in the US to help us with our trip home and I'm so thankful for him. He is amazing. We went to see his family for Thanksgiving (see the picture at left) and had so much fun. His parents and brother were also so nice to give us some time away to go see my Mom's side of the family and my Dad's side the day after. We also went to see my Granny and Grandparents on our way home and B was so patient with all of my family activities.

Dragonfly is really taking to Daddy in just the time he's been back and Love Bug is, as always, Daddy's girl. We have been doing lots of fun stuff together like the Children's Museum and the Aquarium. As we were driving home from the Aquarium yesterday, we were asking Love Bug to repeat all the things she saw, from jellyfish to coral. When we asked her to say "sharks" she said it so well, my Mom asked her to "say sharks again". Her reply? "Sharks again"! Aren't kids just the best?

Other than that we're counting our blessings and praying for a safe flight one week from today.

We've had a busy week!

2008-11-15T17:06:00.002-06:00

First, the movers came Monday and picked up everything we've bought while we're here to ship it back to Italy. It was a lot- shopping and getting everything in order was a big job. I bought clothes for the kids for the next year and a half. I bought some birthday and Christmas gifts for next year too. I bought sheets and a comforter for Love Bug's "big girl bed" (which were pink and purple princess themed- what a girl!) and got some things for potty training. I also bought all our favorite toiletries and food items, enough to last the rest of our tour in Italy.

So, now you're probably asking... why, Abbey? Why would you subject yourself to three horrible months as a crazy consumer?

1. The shipping was free, arranged by B's job.
2. Clothing, even for children, is three times as much in Italy
3. Most favorite toiletries and food, even if available, are twice as much in Italy.

So, as you can guess, I saved a lot of money. Even shopping major sales, I know how much I've spent on clothing and toiletries in Europe. I've calculated some of what I saved, and trust me, it's very worth it. Plus, this means I will do very little shopping in the next few years, which makes me very happy!

We also said goodbye to our babysitter on Monday. She has been coming over a few times a week, for a few hours, to help me with the kids. Her mother died last weekend, so she had to go home and won't be back until after we leave. Please pray for her, that she has peace and comfort in her mother's passing.

Both kids had a check-up this week as well. Love Bug is 80th percentile in height, and about 70th in weight. Dragonfly is 95th-99th across the board... what a bruiser! Both are completely healthy and doing really well- thank God for all our blessings there.

I had my six week check-up and have healed really well. I've lost 35 pounds so far, but hope to lose about 35 more. I gained 45 during the pregnancy and never lost the extra 20 from Love Bug, so I have some work ahead of me. B had such a great time running the Rome marathon last year, that he planned to do Paris this year, but he's decided to take off one year and postpone it until 2010. What a great husband! This means that he can watch the kids for me, so I can focus on losing the weight I gained over the pregnancies. Let's just hope I have the will power.

I also had more testing to figure out the source of my hypothyroidism. I feel great, so please pray for me that it's nothing!

I've got another busy week ahead, getting ready for our trip to see family during Thanksgiving. We'll be distributing Christmas gifts that week, so I'll need to get all those in order. Then, we'll be heading back to Italy just one week after that. We're having a big Christmas party two weeks after our return, so I'm excited to get home for that. I'll try to check in with your blogs tomorrow and leave some comments when I can!

Happy Birthday Love Bug!

2008-11-06T19:05:00.003-06:00

Two years ago today...

Happy 2nd Birthday sweet girl! I love you more than anyone could dream possible.

Some pictures...

2008-11-05T10:55:00.000-06:00

Love Bug at the Pumpkin Patch

Love Bug and Dragonfly (the Princess and Dragon) on Halloween

All decorated for Love Bug's Birthday Party

The party princess with a few friends

Mommy and Love Bug with her beautiful cake!

Giving Thanks Challenge!

2008-11-02T08:42:00.003-06:00

I'm going to try and join Leah over at South Breeze Farm for her "Giving Thanks Challenge". I say try because I have a new baby and a 2 year old that drives me batty; funny story about this actually...

One of the maternity nurses was doing follow-up with me and making sure I knew about the symptoms of post-partum depression. One, in particular, stuck out... "a feeling like you want to harm the baby, or feelings of anger towards the baby". I, of course, was somber for a second, at such a scary thought, but then told the nurse exactly what I was thinking... "No, I adore him- what a sweet baby! But does it mean anything if you have feelings of anger towards your 2-year old?" He he! I'm just going to continue to give Love Bug lots of attention and love. We've been doing lots of special outings together and that seems to decrease the amount of time she spends in time-out. It's hard for her and I want to make sure she remembers this period as exciting, getting to know her new brother. I just hope she doesn't remember getting a "talking-to" and her minutes in time out!

No matter what- I love you so much, Love Bug! You are a great big sister and a good helper to Mommy. Watching you grow up gives us so much joy and we are Thankful for you every minute of every day!

Life with two kids under two...

2008-10-26T20:41:00.001-05:00

... is pretty great! Dragonfly is thriving and, at three weeks and a few days old, has already gained a pound plus. He is almost fitting into 3-6 month clothes and doesn't fit newborn shoes, since his hands and feet are really long. He is so precious and just fits into our family well.

Love Bug is a good big sister. She wants to hold him any chance she gets and tries to help us with him all the time. The only thing that drives me nuts is that she likes to close the snaps on his swing and car seat once I take him out. So, then when I want to put him back, I have to open the snaps with one hand, balancing him in the other!

A few early impressions about having two-

1. I've heard people say that their second child was easier, but that's just unfair to us first-borns (notice I said "us"). It's not that younger children are easy-going, it's just that us parents are better the second time around! Changing a diaper is quicker- but generally everything in the baby care category is much simpler when you've done it before. Breastfeeding is also going so well this time. It went well with Love Bug, but I had to ask a million questions and get a little help to get there. I'm much more relaxed and don't fret over every little thing this time. In fact, someone in our family had pink eye and he already got it. With Love Bug it would've sent me over the edge, but this time, I'm calmly taking care of it.

2. I'm already doing a lot and feeling pretty normal. We've been out shopping, gone to Love Bug's music and gym classes, and she got her hair cut for the first time a week ago. I'm really trying to make tons of time for Love Bug, and I've found that in the process, my recovery has been much quicker. I gained 40 pounds during the pregnancy and have already lost 35... but once I lose these next five, I really want to lose another 25 to get back to a weight way before Love Bug when I was healthier. I was a size 8, which may sound big to some of you, but that's pretty good for me.

3. The only sad thing is that I've found that my "blog" time is non-existant, hence no posts for three weeks. I used to post either in the morning before Love Bug got up. Now my morning is when I cuddle Dragonfly, since he spends some time on his tummy mat or in his activity chair once Love Bug is up. I can't really blog late at night, after Love Bug is in bed, since B and I use that time just for us. We cuddle up with a movie or we talk, read, debate, or sometimes just watch TV, since we rarely watch when Love Bug is up... it's the time of the day that keeps us in sync as a couple, and not just as parents of the same children.

So, I guess I'm trying to say that posts will be slow for awhile, and so will commenting. I see so many Mom bloggers who do so well with two or more kids, but I just don't feel like I can do it right now. We see how permanant this is as Dragonfly grows. B was always supportive of my blog as an outlet, but we agreed that it would only happen on the side of our regular life. So we'll see where this fits in as we go.

I hope to post soon though, since I got some great pictures of the kids at a Halloween party tonight and will have even more after Love Bug's 2nd birthday party next weekend! I hope you all are having a wonderful fall- you know it's my favorite!

Our new little man...

2008-10-05T23:17:00.003-05:00

People asked if I was having twins, and now we know why... one little boy at a whopping 11 lbs!

Dragonfly in the warmer! We got to breastfeed just after he was born and I was just in recovery waiting for my legs to wake up a little more.

My favorite picture... my Mom (Nana) with both of her grandkids. She looks so happy!

Our family. I look terrible, but I just had major surgery. I'll post more in a few days about the experience of having two and how things went with the surgery, but tonight I'm tired and need to unpack! Hope you have a great week.

We welcomed...

2008-10-01T21:12:00.001-05:00

Well, everyone, the day has come. Our newest addition, "Dragonfly" arrvied on Wednesday, October 1st, at 8:10 am. In the days leading up to her delivery, Abbey received many comments and stares at her very large belly. People would ask her if she was having twins. Others would just gape in awe.

Well, it all makes sense now. Dragonfly was born weighing a whopping 11 lbs even and measures 21.5 inches. He's a big boy and almost already out of the newborn diapers. He's very happy and very hungry. Mom and Baby are both doing well.

Please leave comments and I'll be sure to pass them on to A. More news and pictures to come soon.

Have a wonderful day!
B (Abbey's husband)

No baby yet, and no signs of imminent arrival...

2008-09-21T21:40:00.002-05:00

I've been enjoying my break and spending more time with Love Bug. She's taking a music class and a gym class, which she will continue with Daddy after he arrives this weekend. She's been doing more learning activies too and now knows two colors- green and blue! She also knows a few letters and can say she's 2 (with two fingers up). We taught her to count like the French and Italians- starting with the thumb as one, the index finger as two, and so on. It think it's much easier to do and actually makes more sense. Just a warning- if you're ever in Europe and ordering food, don't hold up the American two fingers, because they will think you mean three, since they've mentally counted your thumb. Susan, does it work the same way in Germany?

I've also finished all my shopping for the baby. We got a bassinet with the playard, since he will also sleep in it on trips once he's outgrown the bassinet. We also got the baptism stuff (since his Christening is a few weeks after he's born). Finally, we got a double stroller. Go check it out- it's actually more of a sit n' stand type stroller and it has a neat attachment on the front to hold a baby carrier too (you can see this on the third picture). It's the only stroller for two kids that fits in our tiny, Italian elevator- very exciting!

No baby yet and we're still on target for a c-section in a few weeks. B will let you know when Dragonfly arrives and how we're all doing! Until then, I'll be praying for cooler weather and an easy recovery.

A Girl After My Own Heart...

2008-09-12T08:27:00.000-05:00

Love Bug not been allowed to watch TV until now, as many of you know. My pediatrician in France really encouraged us to avoid it, and besides creativity and learning skills, one of his reasons was actually that it would be a special treat one day, when we want to use it to allow us a break.

Well, everyone... that day has come.

Love Bug has started watching movies to give me some time to relax, because I really need it. My ankles are now "cankles" and my pants have gotten too tight, just in the waist, because my belly is so big. I need some major relaxation. We've been getting movies from Netflix and seeing what she likes. So far, her favorites are this and this... and I couldn't have picked them better myself. In fact, I'm not relaxing (as was my original goal) because I'm singing and dancing along with her.

And, in other news, I'm not taking a blog break- it's more of a "sporatic blog" exercise. It must be contagious because it seems that many people are either gone entirely or just not posting very often. It's hard with the baby coming and all I need to do to get ready. Plus, my hubby B, is arriving here in two weeks, and you can guarantee that I won't be around then at all. We have lots to catch up on, especially spending time just the three of us before Dragonfly joins our family. Keep checking back... I will be around... I just need some time to myself too. And no worries, B will post about Dragonfly once he arrives.

I know some people like reading blogs that post a lot, so forgive me. I will still comment often I'm sure- I have my Google Reader set up so well now, so I don't have to check my favorite blogs each day... just when they have a new post. I look forward to reading about how all of you are doing and can't wait to share our baby news in just a few weeks!

Donating Cord Blood

2008-09-08T08:54:00.000-05:00

We've gotten lots of information about cord blood donation from private banks over the last few months of my pregnancy, all coming from places in the United States. I didn't get any in Italy or in France, so I'm assuming they mostly do public donation.

We are big believers in doing things for the good of everyone in society when possible, so we've decided to donate our cord blood to a public bank. I hope we'll never have any need for it, but I did ask the pediatrician for her opinion. She told me that since we have no family history of diseases that require cord blood for treatment (which there are only a few rare ones now), it is safe to assume that most people won't need their babies' cord blood.

I found a website about donation and found that my hospital does participate, so they are sending me a kit. I hope our cord blood is usable and maybe it will even be used to help someone. Please go look at the website or pass it on to friends if they're pregnant. The best time to do it is before 34 weeks, so they have time to mail the information and the collection kit.

In case you didn't see my post about organ donation, I'm also a big supporter of that, as well. Go check out this website for more information and tell your family that you want to donate your organs and tissues if anything would happen. We did it when my Dad passed and it was one of the best decisions we've made.

Another Blog Award

2008-09-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

I wanted to pass on another blog award I've received. Carrie was kind enough to give me the Blog Friends Forever Award. I'm so excited that she included me and it's very fitting. We have so much in common, including our birthday (right down to the exact year), and I always enjoy reading her blog and getting her emails.

I'm passing the award onto these wonderful blog friends:
Cheri- who shares in my struggles in a crazy life of moving every few years and husbands who work for the US government (Military in her case, State Dept. for us).
Tootie- is one of my favorite bloggers. Most of her posts are upbeat and always make me laugh.
Susan- who always has interesting stories about life in Germany, and I usually end up feeling less crazy myself when dealing with a European lifestyle.
Nicol- who despite her stress in selling her house these days, is always an enjoyable blogger.
Danielle- who was my partner in a recent swap and is a new friend. I've loved getting to know her.

The "Rules" for those of you who want to pass on this award:
1. Only five people allowed.
2. Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. One has to be someone new, or recently new to your blog, or live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to whoever gave you the 'Blogging Friends Forever' award.

There were so many wonderful bloggers to choose from and I hope to include more of you next time!

Our Bilingual Experience

2008-09-05T09:30:00.005-05:00

My husband is a second-generation American. His grandparents were from Canada and their family roots can be traced all the way back to France. He grew up hearing his grandparents, great-aunts, and great-uncles speak French. As in many American families, B's father (and his siblings) never learned to speak French. Partly because the older generation wanted a private language to only speak amongst the adults, but also to make sure their children were fully integrated in the United States.

As my husband grew up, hearing more and more French but not really understanding, he became more interested in learning. He took French in school, and when an opportunity to do a foreign exchange to France was offered, he jumped on it. Oddly, he was sent to a small town in Brittany, which was in the same region of France his ancestors came from. There were no English speakers around, and even those that spoke a little knew better than to help him. So, he sat in a French high school, and with his French family every night at dinner, and didn't understand a word... for months. Then one day, around November, he suddenly realized that he knew what the teacher was saying in history class. From there, he never looked back. His new goal was to perfect the accent, and he did. Even years later when we moved to France as newlyweds, he fooled most people and they believed that he was a native speaker.

Even before we knew we were moving there, we always talked about being a bilingual family. We always planned on including French in our daily lives, but we didn't work out all the details until we were actually expecting Love Bug. Our techniques may seem extreme, but our goal is total fluency. Many children achieve a good level of comprehension with just a little exposure. I've even met one ten-year-old who could speak perfect English. When questioned about how she learned it (since no one she knew spoke English and she didn't learn it from school), she said it was from American TV shows. Here's how we planned to handle everything:

- We agreed to start right when Love Bug was born. We read in books that the earlier you start, the better. This is true for two reasons. First, as you age, even in childhood, you become less receptive to new languages. (My husband learning so well as a teenager is the exception to this rule.) The other advantage to starting at birth, according to many books, is that it's easier to make a big lifestyle changes at the same time. We already had the crazy disruption of bringing Love Bug home, why not start with a new language in the home then too.

- We agreed to have B speak only in French, and respond to me in French. I speak only English, and respond to his questions in English. Around English speakers, we continue this and I just translate to family or friends if they would like to know what he is saying. The only exception is that B will speak to other people in English, when he's not speaking to Love Bug too. We read that many children struggle if you don't make clear language division... between parents or between the home and outside world.

- We had the wonderful advantage of actually living in France when Love Bug was born. We stocked up early on books and toys in French, and many friends in France have helped us (since they know our hopes for her and our other kids) by continuing to send us more books, toys, and even a few t-shirts with French on them!

- Our family knows that if they buy any language toys, these toys must have French on them. Any DVDs they buy must also have a French language track on it, not just subtitles.

- Our goal is to have Love Bug (and now Dragonfly) listen to, and eventually speak, French for 20 - 24 hours a week. This is the recommended time period to make sure they are completely fluent.

- We plan to enroll her in French preschool (yes, they have one near our place in Italy) and as we move around the world for my husband's job, most places have a French school. There is even a French Montessori school where we will end up living in the US. Once they start middle school, our kids will go to regular public school in the US, or American schools if we're overseas. While they are in French grade school, I will work with them at night on spelling and vocabulary in English, so they will learn both.

So far these techniques are working very well for us. Love Bug understands B in French, and she understands me in English. She prefers certain languages for certain things, but this is normal. She also confuses words sometimes, and this is normal too. To describe things, she uses words like "chaud" for hot, and "belle" for beautiful. She also does body parts in French, like "nez" (nose) and "bouche" (mouth). When talking about toys or food, she speaks in English. Love Bug also calls us "Mommy" and "Daddy", but B also uses these words instead of "maman" and "papa" to avoid confusion in what to call us.

If you want your children to learn a new language, it can be started at any time really. And you definitely don't need to be bilingual yourself. There are many language schools that offer a few evening classes a week for kids of all ages or you can enroll them in all day immersion schools if you would like. There are also summer programs, including summer camps, with complete immersion, which are very effective. Obviously many programs offer Spanish, since it is so useful in our country. Another good choice, my husband has said, is Mandarin Chinese, due to their increasing wealth and power in the world. Most new language-oriented jobs opening now are in Spanish, Chinese, and even some Arabic. It's important to anticipate what languages will be useful if you would like your children to use them. They can really learn anything if you're not concerned about usefulness.

Do you have any questions about teaching your children another language? I might be able to help with all the books I've read on the subject, and in living overseas myself. Does anyone have a bilingual family and want to share how it works for them? What techniques or learning programs have your used? I'd love to hear what others hope to achieve!

Backwards Works-for-me-Wednesday: Room Sharing & Which Bed to Use

2008-09-03T09:01:00.003-05:00

Living in Rome, we have a two bedroom apartment. This is normal, since rents are really high and we chose to live in the city to keep my husband's commute short. Fortunately all the rooms are large and give us a lot of room to stretch out. The one problem comes in now that we are having our baby boy in just a month. Our daughter is going to be two in November, and at some point, these two will share the second room.

Because I breastfeed exclusively for the first six months, we'll probably keep the baby in our room until around that point for feedings and to make life easier with frequent night wakings. If he starts sleeping through the night earlier (which our daughter did easily), then we'll move him at four months when the risk for SIDS decreases.

Any tips for making the transition to one room easier for our kids? My daughter has slept through the night since she was just 10 weeks old and sleeps really well, so I don't want to mess her up. I think she could tolerate minimum noise, but a lot wakes her up. Do kids get used to more noise or will they adjust to a sibling crying and be able to go right back to sleep?

Also, what about the bed? We plan to use the 4-6 months to move her to a "big girl" bed, leaving enough time afterward so that she "forgets" that her brother is taking her bed. We have a single bed, but because it's older, it's really high off the floor, but I guess we could do railings- any recommendations? Or should we buy a toddler bed instead? Most of the sheet sets she likes (since we want her to pick her own) are in both twin and toddler sizes... what should we do?

Some things to consider:
- Moving isn't an option.
- We want to move him as early as possible. Our pillow talk, etc. are a very important part of our marriage. Our daughter moved at four months and that was perfect.

Can you help me with tips for a smooth transition? What kind of bed should we use for our two-year-old? Anything you can offer is really appreciated!

Laborious

2008-09-01T23:05:00.004-05:00

Love Bug just seconds after her arrival!

I saw this on Rocks in my Dryer. Even though I'm too late for the link, I still wanted to participate in this meme, especially after the topic of my last post!

How long was your labor?
Didn't have a labor! My daughter didn't drop and nothing was happening, so my doctor ordered a CT scan (with low dose radiation) to see what was going on. This seems strange to Americans, but it's just how things are done in France. She even consulted the Head of Obstetrics and they agreed that trying to induce would do a lot of damage to my cervix (possibly requiring a cerclage in future pregnancies) and the likelihood of me ending up with a c-section anyway was almost 100%.

How did you know you were in labor?
We just arrived at the hospital and casually got ready. Once the OR was ready, they wheeled me down and Love Bug was out in 15 minutes.

Where did you deliver?
A small hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France- the closest Western suburb of Paris. We lived just down the street and it was so convenient.

Drugs?
I had a spinal block, which is just like an epidural, except the tube isn't left in your back. The anesthesiologist (who was the cutest little French man I've ever seen) just gave me one dose for the c-section. I could feel everything again about 5 hours later. By the way, the spinal block/epidural is actually pretty painful when you have no other pain to compare it to. I can see how it would bring welcome relief if your labor was really bad, but it's not exactly the little pin prick you would prefer when you aren't already in labor!

C-section?
Yes, but I'm not upset about it. The goal is a healthy baby and without modern medicine, I probably wouldn't have survived childbirth, and Love Bug probably wouldn't have either.

Who delivered?
My doctor was the only American and one of the only women in the Obstetrics Department at our hospital- and she was wonderful. Despite all her patients and the long waiting list to see her, she still called me at home a few times during my pregnancy just to give me test results or check in. She gave me her personal cell phone number early in the pregnancy and told me to call her directly if I had any problems.
During the delivery, she kept translating everything she said in French to the anesthesiologist/nurses/etc. back to me in English. My husband thought this was strange since my doctor knew I spoke decent French. But as I told him, she knew better, since she had a c-section herself. Your mind doesn't function well when your abdomen is cut open, so my native language was about all I could handle.
(By the way, my husband- who does speak native French- said that translation was not direct and she left out a lot of the details or scary things when she was talking to me. Also a great idea, since I probably would've been even more scared than I was already!)

Thanks for all your wonderful responses to my last post. I appreciate the wonderful advice, words of faith, and prayers. I've decided to just wait and see what Dragonly does, pray about it, and just move forward with whatever my husband and I think is best. I'm lucky to have such great readers and friends!

Dragonfly weighs how much?

2008-08-31T04:30:00.000-05:00

I went to the Obstetrician on Friday for an ultrasound to check Dragonfly's weight. We had hoped to do a VBAC, and since I meet all the criteria (no major health issues, no gestational diabetes, no pre-eclampsia or high blood pressure), the next two steps are to check the weight and then hope the baby descends into my pelvis on his own. My doctor suspected that he was big, but wasn't sure how much, and this has a big impact on if he'll descend and if I can do a VBAC.

Boy, was the doctor right to have concerns about his weight! Dragonfly weighs 7 pounds, 4 ounces as of Friday, which would put him around 9 pounds, 4 ounces at birth. The doctor says now that we'll have to wait and see. If he descends on his own, then there is still hope for a VBAC- it's successful about 40% - 50% of the time with this criteria. If Dragonfly doesn't descend, then it's less than 5%. So, with that said, if nothing happens on it's own, we'll do another c-section. This isn't what I wanted, but the goal is to minimize risks, which is why I wanted a VBAC in the first place. While a c-section is generally riskier, an emergency c-section carries a lot more risks than one that is planned.

A friend told me to just push for it, if I really want a VBAC. But I just don't think that's safe, given the info I have. What do you all think?.

Haven Swap Show-and-Tell

2008-08-29T22:29:00.005-05:00

I was so excited to be part of this swap... and it's much easier now that I'm temporarily living in the United States! I had a great swap partner, Danielle, and she gave me so many goodies.

(My pictures won't load for some reason, so please go to visit Danielle, where she has posted pictures of everything I got her first, then pictures of all the wonderful things she got me!)

First, she got a Love Bug puppet and a Dragonfly teether for my kids- it was so nice of her to think of them!

She also got me chocolate and hand lotion as a special treat for me. The hand lotion has already found a special place in my diaper bag to replace some old lotion that was getting oily. I've had some of the chocolate in this past week, and all I can say is that it's so good!

My favorite things were for my porch, which is my haven at home. There is a plant charm... with some beads strung down from a stake, and the blue beads will look so pretty in my flower boxes with all the colorful flowers. She also made a gorgeous
set of candles with our initials and pictures of a Love Bug and Dragonfly. It was so thoughtful of her and will have a special place on our terrace in Rome.

Thanks to Danielle for being such a great swap partner, and to Carrie and Monica for organizing it- Carrie has a great link system set up for all the show-and-tells. What fun!

Our Mindset...

2008-08-27T09:05:00.002-05:00

I found this article a few weeks ago, about the Bel.oit College Mind.set List. It started as a list to help college professors understand what cultural references their students would and would not understand. Now, it's become sort of a interesting glimpse, for anyone who reads it, into the minds of those starting college this year. Read the whole article if you can, it's really fascinating.

I went to the Be.loit College website and found the list here. The main page is this year's list for the Class of 2012, entering college this fall, but you can also use the pull down menu right under the title to find any other year they've created.

I was tickled to find that they actually go all the way back to 2002, for freshman starting in 1998, since I graduated from college in 2001, and started in 1997. This meant that the list would actually be close to my own mindset at the time, since I was starting college just one year earlier. I checked it out and while I agree with some of it, I'm also insulted that they think we were so clueless as kids. Here is the list, with some of my own recollections in italics:

1. The people starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1980, 1979 in my case.

2. They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan era, and did not know he had ever been shot. I knew Reagan was shot.

3. They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.

4. Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression. I took history and had grandparents- I know the Great Depression was much more significant.

5. There has only been one Pope. They can only remember one other president.

6. They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart, and do not remember the Cold War.

7. They have never feared a nuclear war. "The Day After" is a pill to them—not a movie.

8. They are too young to remember the Space Shuttle Challenger blowing up. I had just turned seven, and sadly, I remember it very vividly.

9. Their lifetime has always included AIDS.

10. They never had a polio shot, and likely, do not know what it is. I think they mean smallpox, since polio is still given today.

11. Bottle caps have not always been screw off, but have always been plastic. They have no idea what a pull top can looks like.

12. Atari pre-dates them, as do vinyl albums. See 14

13. The expression "you sound like a broken record" means nothing to them. See 14

14. They have never owned a record player. I had this record player actually! Fisher Price made similar ones (just more blue toned) until 1989, when I was ten.

15. They have likely never played Pac Man, and have never heard of "Pong." I've played both.

16. Star Wars looks very fake to them, and the special effects are pathetic.

17. There have always been red M&Ms, and blue ones are not new. What do you mean there used to be beige ones? I remember the beige ones, and when red M & Ms were reintroduced and how there were fears over red dye still being poison!

18. They may never have heard of an 8-track, and chances are they've never heard or seen one. A high school friend had an 8-track in his 1980 Vo.lvo, complete with one 8-track of the "All.man Brothers".

19. The compact disc was introduced when they were one year old.

20. As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 32 cents. I remember when they were 25 cents and I remember when gas was 99 cents.

21. They have always had an answering machine. I remember getting one.

22. Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black & white TV. I've seen both and when we were first married we didn't have cable, so we only had 9 channels!

23. They have always had cable.

24. There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what Beta is. We always had VHS, but I knew people who had Beta.

25. They cannot fathom what it was like not having a remote control.

26. They were born the year Walkmen were introduced by Sony.

27. Roller-skating has always meant in-line for them. My grade-school friends and I roller skated on real roller skates all the time!

28. "The Tonight Show" has always been with Jay Leno. I remember Johnny Carson.

29. They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.

30. Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.

31. They have never seen Larry Bird play, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a football player. What?... Larry Bird retired when I was 13.

32. They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.

33. The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI and WWII or even the Civil War.

34. They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran. I don't know much about it, but I know it happened.

35. They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are. My Mom had them until she had laser eye surgery a few years ago.

36. They don't know who Mork was, or where he was from.

37. They never heard the terms "Where's the Beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a Camel" or "De plane, de plane!"

38. They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. is.

39. The Titanic was found? I thought we always knew where it was.

40. Michael Jackson has always been white. The scariest thing about Michael Jackson to me will always be "Thriller".

41. Kansas, Boston, Chicago, America, and Alabama are all places—not music groups. Good music, especially Chicago and Boston, is always in style.

42. McDonald's never came in Styrofoam containers. Big Macs were in Styrofoam until just a few years ago, weren't they?

43. There has always been MTV, and it has always included non-musical shows. I remember when they actually showed music videos!

Go check it out and see if you have any observations of your own. Make sure to check the list for the year you were supposed to graduate from college. Have fun!

Thanks!

2008-08-26T13:02:00.003-05:00

I'm glad that so many people like the new blog design! Thank you. I got the tip from Leah at South Breeze Farm, and we got our blog designs from The Cutest Blog on the Block. Please though, use a different design from either of us, to keep it fun!

I picked this one because I love fall (it's my favorite season!) and it just looks like me! I love it. I've been wanting something different from what blogger offers for a long time.

Thank you also, to everyone who replied to my last post about vaccines. Just a few replies to some of the comments:

- I, like many of you, didn't think that the chicken pox vaccine was that important. In the end we gave it to Love Bug and will definitely give it to Dragonfly because of the risk of sterility in men who contract chicken pox as adults. I'm just more sensitive about things like that, because it took so long for us to conceive LB. Also, Cheri brought up the risk of open sores and MRSA... very smart and something I've never thought of before. Either way, it's not vital, just make sure all the adult men in your life know the risk of sterility if they catch it as adults.

- I also agree with Kathleen about how many vaccines they get at once. We also were able to spread ours out and once she showed no signs of problems with any of them, we went forward full steam ahead. And as an interesting note, Kathleen said she was branded after refusing the Hepatitis B shot at birth. In France, they don't give it at birth at all. You get the first three doses later. We did get all her doses of Hepatitis A & B because it's very common in Europe, just later.

- Danielle asked about my reference to not being able to take Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches to school. Yes, this is true in many places, included the Elementary School near the house we own (and rent out for now) in Washington, DC. It's to control peanut allergy reactions in kids with allergies. I understand this, especially if you've had an incident or many kids have allergies. But then letting unvaccinated kids walk around the school is no problem? That seems like a problem with priorities to me!

Back to Blogging... with a Vaccination Question

2008-08-25T11:30:00.004-05:00

I'm back! My blog break was kinda unofficial, since I never announced it here, but with so many other people taking a break, it seemed like it would be okay. I had a horrible cold, which turned into a sinus infection, which further fueled my Olympic Obsession of sitting on the couch and watching TV.

Due to the possible conflicts that the post below brings up, please read the whole thing before commenting! Thank you.

So, on my first day back I have a big question. There has been an outbreak of measles in the US, and it's due to vaccination rates in the US dropping in recent years. I just don't understand the problem with vaccines, but I'm trying to understand. I consider myself a very educated, careful mother, and I find it almost insulting that some friends think I've made a bad choice by vaccinating. Here are my reasons for giving Love Bug vaccines:

1. The link between autism and the MMR vaccine is completely unfounded, as stated in this article. I actually know a few children from my years in education who were NOT vaccinated, due to family history of autism, but they still were diagnosed with it later.

2. Vaccination is important to us since we live overseas and we've travelled to countries in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, where vaccination rates are lower. From teaching in an economic disadvantaged area, I have seen what measles or diphtheria can do to babies who are too young to be vaccinated or those who can't be vaccinated, due to serious illnesses. Here is a direct quote from this article:

"In the decade before the measles vaccination program began, an estimated 3 to 4 million persons in the United States were infected each year. Of these, 400 to 500 died, 48,000 were hospitalized, and another 1,000 developed chronic disability from measles encephalitis."

Compare this to the measles vaccine, which only causes serious complications in 3 out of a million vaccines given, and has hardly ever been a cause of death in the millions upon millions of shots given.

3. I want to protect my children from problems later in life. Rubella (the R in MMR, also called German Measles) is fatal to unborn children when you're pregnant. If it doesn't kill the baby or cause a miscarriage, it can cause birth defects. I found out during my pregnancy that I'm not immune to Rubella, even though I was vaccinated twice. My doctor said that immunity can wane, but it's uncommon, and that I just need to get another MMR shot after I deliver. Most mothers she tests are immune. It's made my pregnancy very stressful, having to avoid situations where people may be unvaccinated. Immunity weakening (as in my case) is very rare, but if I don't get Love Bug vaccinated, then she will always have to worry during her child-bearing years. I've also heard the vaccine for Varicella (chicken pox) called unnecessary, but both my children will be vaccinated. Love Bug could give it to her adult husband, or Dragonfly could get it as an adult, which can cause sterility in over half of the reported cases.

So I want to know why people don't do it. I stated my reasons pretty clearly above, and I'm definitely willing to listen to MOST arguements for not vaccinating. If you have good reasons, then please tell me (nicely), so I can understand this better. I've been given these reasons listed below from friends of mine, but I don't think they're valid, so please come up with something else:

1. "If your children are vaccinated, it will be mine who gets sick, so why do you care?" I care because I'm at risk for catching Rubella, which could cause miscarriage or fetal death during my pregnancy. Losing your immunity is rare, but vaccines only work about 95 - 99% of the time, so we rely on each other to confere herd immunity. What about newborn babies who are too young to get vaccines? What about the elderly, or the sick who didn't get vaccines? What about HIV/AIDS patients, or cancer patients on chemotherapy, who could still contract the diseases no matter what vaccines they had, because their immune systems are so weak? That's why I care.

2. "I'm not putting my children at risk just for the good of everyone else." Vaccines carry much lower risk than the actual diseases themselves. And if someone really feels this way, then shouldn't they go live in the country, away from eveyone else? We live in a society and we have to live by rules for the good of everyone sometimes, and this includes public health issues, like vaccines. If this is the logic, then should people be able to drive fast, and potentially cause fatal car accidents, just because they have a good reason for being in a hurry?

3. "They put terrible stuff in vaccines, like aborted fetuses." This isn't true, but yes, there are human compounds in vaccines, but they are only used as a host for the infection, so the tissues can fight the disease and the defeated virus can be injected as a vaccine. The compound they use is produced by the human liver, and it should be noted, that only a living, breathing person has a productive enough liver to make this compound.

So what do you think? The playgroup I'm involved in here is thinking of not allowing unvaccinated children to attend. I don't know what to think. Most playgroups I've been involved in overseas have been through my husband's job, and they have a strict vaccination policy for everyone in the family. If you don't get all your shots, you don't move overseas. But it may come up at some point during my childrens' lives, if outbreaks continue. I think if someone could give me a good reason, I would be more understanding. But for the time being, I can't understand it. I can't understand why children aren't allowed to bring PB & J sandwiches to school because of children with allergies, but they can come unvaccinated and possibly spread it around to the newborn siblings, or immune compromised people who live with their classmates.

Slight Olympic Obsession...

2008-08-13T00:20:00.002-05:00

So, I forgot to tell you all that I have a slight obsession with the Olympics. Such an obsession, in fact, that apparently I cannot blog. I really can't. I tried. I just start thinking about the Olympics every time I try to write a post about bilingualism. I CAN, however, comment on a few things so far in these Olympic games:

1. Opening ceremony was the coolest thing I've ever seen. And no, I don't care that some 7-year-old sang one of the songs, instead of the 9 year old that was on TV.

2. Love that our Men's 4 x 100 relay beat the French after their trash talking. I love that country, but boy can they be arrogant sometimes!

3. Syncronized diving is one of my favorite things to watch, but only for about 5 minutes. After that, it gets boring.

4. Love Bug apparently has Olympic fever too. She watched gymnastics with a blank stare I've never seen before. We never let her watch TV, and usually she's not interested, but wow... does she love some gymnastics.

5. Mich.ael Phe.lps is so impressive. I love that his Mom cries for every medal ceremony.

That's all I have this late at night. Any other observations?

In the meantime, I'll work on the bilingual post, but I can't promise anything!

Flying with a Toddler... while 7 months pregnant

2008-08-06T10:39:00.007-05:00

First, I'll start by saying bravo to Ame.rican, because they were so good to us. We called a few weeks before the flight to request bulkhead seats and they were able to put some on hold for us, provided no one else on board needed them for serious medical reasons. We did end up getting those seats and it was so helpful! We were actually at the front of the economy section, which meant we had to only walk a few feet from the door to get to our seats.

They also were so helpful after we landed. All of the assistants were helping other people so one of the pilots grabbed Love Bug's car seat and a flight attendant grabbed a bag, so that I only had to push her in the stroller and carry a few personal items. It was wonderful. Once I got to passport control, they helped me get my bags through and get a cart... once I had a cart for all our bags, it was smooth sailing.

The real trouble was in the beginning, when I was just getting to the plane, before take-off. Most of Europe has special passport readers and people to check your bags before you get to the ticket counter. Fortunately in Paris (as in most airports), they were together, so you could still have family with you until you got your tickets and got to security. But in Rome? No, you do this in a separate front entrance, before moving into the ticketing area in the next space. They first told B that he couldn't come with me. But they also didn't want to try to find anyone to help me. Yes, me and a toddler with a small stroller, carseat, 3 bags, and two small carry-ons, could get there alone according to them. My wonderful husband just argued and finally a security guard agreed that he could come in with me, but had to leave just afterwards... because, oh yes, he loves just sitting by the ticket counter all day.

Once we got inside, again what a great experience with Amer.ican, because they knew according to the manifest, that a pregnant woman was travelling with a toddler. They called us forward and we got taken care of right away. Finally, we said our tearful goodbyes to Daddy and we were on our way! Security was a little daunting, because I had my stroller to fold, a toddler to chase and I had to get my laptop out of my one carry-on. I thought all was well until I tried to get my carseat through and realised that it wouldn't fit (we've never had that happen before and the opening looked small). They proceeded to make me walk with Love Bug, over to the special large x-ray machine. I tried to explain that my purse was sitting there alone with my tickets and passports, since it had already gone through the security line. No, I couldn't go get just my purse, I had to follow them, was their reply. They worked for five minutes at the computer next to the large x-ray and surprise, surprise... it didn't work!

They took me back to the original x-ray and just manually searched the chair and used the wand on it. LB and I got through the x-ray and of course, my bags and purse were sitting unattended as I had feared. I also was searching around for my bungee cords that held the carseat to the rolling carry-on. After I explained, they told me that they had thrown them away because they were a security risk. (The flight attendants who I told this story to later couldn't believe it, since they were the really flimsy plastic ones that they see passangers with all the time in the US.) I can see what they're saying, but of course, this caused me some concern because those cords kept all my stuff together in a way I could manage. I had a carseat, toddler in a stroller, and a few other bags. They told me they couldn't help me, but if I wanted assistance I could go back to the ticket counter. With all this stuff weighing me down, I laughed at this idea, and asked if they could call. The response... no.

By this point I had lost it. I was crying, dragging my bags and carseat behind me with one hand, while pushing LB in the stroller with the other. An American woman who saw me arguing with them took pity on me and carried the car seat. Once we walked around the corner, I saw a shuttle bus instead of gates... what was going on? I found out that this was just a special ticketing area they built due to overcrowding at the main airport, but actual flights don't take off. We had to take a shuttle to the main airport! We got on the shuttle and they dropped us off in front of a door with a huge escalator and elevator in front of it. Once we got to the top, there was another escalator and elevator to take again. Once I got to my gate, got checked in and walked towards the plane, what did I find here? Another escalator and elevator, but down this time. Does this seem ridiculous to anyone else? What idiot designed this place?

Finally, we got on the plane, called Daddy before turning off our phone, and sat in our seats. We were finally loaded and I had buckled LB in her carseat, per their request. This is when the captain came on and said that since we were not finished loading our bags until 2 minutes after they had planned, they gave away our take-off spot. We were now scheduled to be an hour later. You could hear the pilot's aggrevation with the air traffic control and could tell when he said, "I'm working to get this changed", that he meant he WOULD get it changed. He did and we finally took off a half hour late.

The flight itself was pretty difficult, since LB didn't want to sit in her seat for most of it. So I held her and chased her and got out every toy we had, and even resorted to a few things that weren't toys. Meals were especially difficult since I HAD TO eat and so did LB; being pregnant and being a toddler require lots of nourishment over a 10 hour flight. She hated eating in her carseat, and I hated balancing both meals on my tray. We did make it, but I think I almost started crying in frustration about 48 times. The rest of the passangers were sweet and played with her and gave her treats and so did the flight attendants, and I'm convinced that these kind, wonderful people were the only reason I made it in one piece.

Not to sound insensitive, but if you're worried about flying as a family (meaning your spouse will be with you too)... I have no pity for you! ;-) We've done it many times as a family and having another adult to take turns with is a lifesaver. If you will be alone (especially pregnant or not feeling well in any way), you have my complete pity! But either way, here is my advice:

1. Make friends with the flight attendants, by being an easy passenger in every way except having a toddler with you.
2. Pack favorite toys, books, one drink, some small snacks, and a few diapers/wipes all in one smallish bag. It's easier to kick around (and pass back and forth with your spouse) than a big bag. Put the change of clothes, baby tylen.ol, and other non-essentials in the larger bag in the overhead bin.
3. Buy another seat if you can afford it or get a discount. Having a seat for Love Bug, even though she only used it about half the time, was so helpful for meals and naps. It's also much safer in the event of major turbulence or a rough landing.
4. If you're alone, get assistance in anyway you can. Ask when you purchase your flight, ask the ticket agent, ask the flight attendants, and even ask other passangers. I even had the wonderful US passport officer finding someone to bring me a cart.
5. Be creative- find other ways to entertain your child... anything you can find. We got a styrofoam cup from a flight attendant and it so much fun for about a half hour.
6. Bring regular, over the head earphones if you can find some or buy some cheaply. LB didn't like the ear buds they provided on the place, but I had regular earphones since my iP.od ear buds broke a few months ago. She was able to watch the movie. I usually don't let her watch TV so this was a real treat!
7. Walk the aisles every hour if the seat belt sign is off. It's good for the kids to walk and it's good to prevent blood clots in adults too. (I had my lovely compression stockings on and was looking just bee-uuu-tiful!)

Oh, and since I have to tease a little... here are my other two pieces of advice:

8. Don't fly with a toddler.
9. Don't fly through or from Rome.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. Good luck to everyone travelling, even if your spouse will be with you. It's stressful and hard no matter what. I wish you no delays, little turbulance, and a nice long nap for everyone!

We're here!

2008-08-03T23:03:00.002-05:00

We have been here for almost a week, but it's been exhausting! Lots of unpacking, including the boxes I mailed ahead of time. We've been to the pool, to the beach (Lake Michigan), shopping, and to a wondeful Chicago Symphony Concert of Broadway tunes at this awesome location! It's a drive for us, but well worth it. We sat on the lawn and had a picnic... scroll down on the webpage for a photo of the lawn fun.

I've spent time with my Mom, my brother and we'll see all my extended family this weekend! I feel so blessed to be home.

The only thing missing is my sweet husband, B! He's doing a special work assignment for 5 and a half weeks away from home (which is good since I'd freak out if he needed to take a 5 week trip next Spring and left me home with two kids). Being able to come home has made the timing good, but it's still hard! When Love Bug saw a picture of all of us yesterday and pointed to him saying "Da-da", it broke my heart. He has reassured me that this trip is a one time thing to help move him up to management. Thank God he isn't in the military. We'd be terrible at it (how strong you all are who do this. I pray for you everyday!) I'm crying every day and not hungry, and he's not sleeping well and is a little depressed. We've only been apart a few times since we got married. The year and a half before that when we were dating, we saw each other every day. It's not the work load... I can handle Love Bug alone (add Dragonfly and we'll see), but I just miss him and his wondeful company. It makes my heart ache even more for my Mom, after we lost my Dad two years ago. He was healthy, only 52... I can't imagine knowing the love of your life is gone forever.

I'll be posting about our flight home this Wednesday. It was so much worse than I expecting- maybe because I'm seven months pregnant and chasing a toddler. But really... it... was... awful! I've learned a few things, so I'll post about my story and give my advice (I'll try to say more than "Don't do it!"). Also, I'm doing my bilingual post on Friday, so if you have any questions or ideas for what to include, let me know! We've just had a big jump in language recently, so it's good timing!

Glad to be back to blogging and to the good old USA!

Busy, busy, busy...

2008-07-28T14:11:00.003-05:00

We have been so busy getting ready for our trip that I've forgotten to blog! Our suitcases are ready and we're cleaning out the refridgerator and making final "to do" lists. Please pray for us this Wednesday (mainly that we make it through the flights with Mommy still sane) and we'll let you know when we arrive!

Boating and Beach Safety

2008-07-24T08:23:00.001-05:00

For more, see part 1, Part 2, or Part 3... also note that any quote in bold italics is from the Amer.ican Re.d C.ross Whal.es Ta.les program.

Boating is such a fun activity, but it has to be done safety. Make sure that the person you are riding with knows how to drive and understands boating rules. Look around the boat... are their keys on a small floating keychain, do they have plenty of lifevests, extra towels, flashlights, and first aid kits? If so, this person is experienced and knows what to do. If they seem to be hazardous, jumping other boats' wakes, driving while consuming alcohol, or going way to fast (you can tell because the boat tips and makes weird noises), you shouldn't ride with them anymore. We've had a few drinks out boating, which is perfectly legal, but no one who plans to drive the boat (or the car going home) should ever drink, and you should always check local laws, since some places outlaw alcohol entirely while boating. So, "Learn about boating, before you go floating!"

My favorite safety rule is "Don't just pack it, wear your jacket!" Obviously this means that when you're boating, everyone should be wearing life vests or personal floatation devices (PFDs). I know that not everyone does it, but try to make it priority, especially when boating at high speed, and ALWAYS when water skiing, tubing, and wake boarding. It's important that there are enough life vests for every person on board, and they must be coast guard approved. These ugly orange ones (type 2) are great for general boating. When water skiing, tubing, or wake boarding, a type 3 life jacket is better, since it is streamlined for quick speeds and covers your whole torso to prevent burns from hitting the water too hard. Here's a chart of all the types of PFDs or life vests. Children not only ALWAYS need a life vest, but a really specific type is important for them. Make sure it's Coast Guard Approved and has both a high collar around the neck (to turn the child on their back so they can breath until they're rescued) and a strap to go through the legs (to keep the life vest on in case of a violent crash). See an example here. This one is plain, but they actually usually come in lots of fun colors or have cartoons on them, which is a great incentive to get kids to wear them.

If you do have an accident while boating, the most important thing is to stay calm. If the water is warm, huddle together, in a cirlce, facing each other, arms around your neighbors shoulders. The water around the group will get warm and the collective body heat will mean that each person has to generate less. This is the key. If you are alone, huddle in a ball with your knees up to your chest, for the same reason of keeping body heat in as small an area as possible. Don't talk too much or use energy, save it to get the attention of boaters who pass you closely. If you aren't wearing your life vest, take off something thick, like jeans, and blow air into them and tie the ends to make a floatation device. Also float on your stomach and back alternately, and tread water until you are rescued.

When it comes to beaches, just make sure you keep an eye on your children and have them wear life vests if you can't supervise them every second. As children get older and swim more on their own, explain the tide and currents, an teach them to always look for landmarks on the beack to make sure they don't swim too far out or get carried away. You'll easily be able to feel the currents, so if you get stuck far out, swim with the current and aim toward the shore. Explain rip currents by standing in a wave and feeling the pull at your feet after the wave crashes. Really strong rip tides can carry you very far out. It's important to respect these and observe posted warnings and lifeguard instructions. If there are no lifeguards on duty, only attempt to swim once you see how conditions are and always go with a group in case you need help.

My last safety rule is a big one... "Reach or Throw, Don't Go". If anyone you know, especially an adult, is drowning, reach a long sturdy object out to them or throw a floatation devide. Make sure you keep a firm hold on the other end of the pole or rope, stand away from the edge of the water, and lean back. Obviously rescuing them as fast as possible is important, but don't go so fast that you don't think, and put yourself in danger.

The great thing about all the safety skills I mentioned above? You and your children can learn them all, plus even more, from the Amer.ican Re.d Cr.oss, and other certified swim lessons. I remember teaching a class about life vests (PFDs) and seeing a group of 8 to 10 year olds huddled in their life vests. They were laughing about having to touch each other and about being so close. I smiled, but all I was thinking about was how if they ever need this skill, I hope the silliness of that day and all the laughter will burn in their brains. If it's memorable, maybe they will remember this and use it.

If all of this is foreign to you, take a class yourself, or enroll your kids, and pay attention. You'll never regret it!

Part 3 - Practicing Swim Skills

2008-07-23T09:30:00.002-05:00

Go check out Part 1 or Part 2...

If you don't have access to swim lessons, let me give you a few tips on what to do on your own.

One great to way to start with infants and toddlers is learning how to blow bubbles. You can have them try to blow a lightweight toy across the water to help them get started. It's important to give them verbal cues, like counting 1, 2, 3 when you go underwater or blow bubbles. Now when Love Bug jumps in, I can just count to three beforehand and she remembers to hold her breath and blow bubbles. Start slow, going under just a few times and build up slowly. It seems scary at first, but it will get easier. Love Bug now has her head fully wet within minutes of arriving at the pool and will swim underwater willingly.

Next skill to work on with your infants/toddlers is floating and swimming in a prone position, or face down. Start by holding your baby under the armpits (loosely to promote relaxation) and pull them forward, which will bring their legs up behind them. They can float in this position, or start kicking with your encouragement. Once they get more confident, move the hold down their arm so more of their body is floating. Moving ahead a few weeks, you can start throwing some favorite small bath toys in the water in front of you and ask them to reach for them. This will eventually translate when they swim alone and you tell them to "reach", they will naturally "crawl" with their arms. Now I hold Love Bug from the side, with just one hand under her belly. Once she's kicking and reaching well, I let go and let her swim a few feet before pulling her up and cheering for her.

Infants and Toddlers do not like to be on their backs in the water, so this is a skill to start early. The best way to start is to hold them securely under the armpits (not too tight that they sense tension) and let them lean back and rest their head on your shoulder as you walk backwards, which pulls their legs and feet to the top of the water. Once they get more confident, lower your body so your shoulder is under the water and the back of their head is just under the water. Make sure to keep their mouth and face clear and well above the water level, so they will continue to trust this position. Back floats and true swimming (backstroke) can wait until they start swim lessons around age 4 or 5, sometimes later.

Jumping in the pool seems like a silly skill to start so young, but it's only started because it can be such a joy later on. If they don't start early, they will fear it once they are physically able to do it. Hold your baby upright at the edge of the pool once they have enough leg stregnth to keep their legs straight. After counting to three (again, an important cue before any skill) lift them up in the air and smoothly down into the water, without putting their heads in. As they grow, they'll learn to be able to do it alone and you can eventually let them get more and more wet, of course praising them for going under, even if it was an accident. Jumping in at the wall is important, because it leads to diving and jumping off the diving board, both of which cause too much tension and anxiety if started too late. Just make sure to teach them to jump out so the never hit their heads on the wall.

Once they jump in... what do you do next? That's right... they climb out to jump in again. You can help them climb out until they have the stregnth to pull themselves out. Learning to climb out of the pool is one of the most important safety skills.

I recommend swimming at pools/beaches with lifeguards or at the very least, a few friends, so you can watch out for each other. Never swim alone. Even experienced swimmers don't swim alone... it's just not safe.

I don't recommend water wings, floaties, or swimsuits with floatation in them, not just because they are actually unsafe, but they also hinder a child learning to swim. They give children an unrealistic sense of floatation. They will learn to swim much sooner, but will have trouble taking off the water wings as they improve. This means that you will have to hold them all the time in the water. If you feel this is unrealistic, get a Coast Guard Approved life vest instead. If you only have them on as a safety precaution at a friends' barbecue or at the beach, again use a Coast Guard Approved life vest or personal floatation device (PFD) instead. Water wings can come off or deflate, and floatation swimsuits can roll children facedown.

I'll talk more about Boating (along with life vests) and Beach Safety tomorrow.

Part 2 - Swim Lessons

2008-07-22T07:50:00.001-05:00

See Part 1 here...

Swim programs with certified instructors are a good way to learn to swim. I always worked with the Ameri.can Re.d Cro.ss, but I've also seen the Y.MCA program and like what they do there as well. I said yesterday, a few weeks in swim lessons aren't enough. It's important to go to the pool often and practice what your child has learned.

At first, you'll be involved in swim lessons, when you take a Parent/Child Class. You'll be in the water with them the whole time, holding and supporting them. Later though, you have to let them start taking lessons on their own. It's hard for some parents to sit back and let the instructor teach without saying anything. It's important to do this, and really important to never talk to your child during the class. Walk away and let them work it out on their own. If they are too scared to get in and participate, make them sit on the wall with the class and don't get involved.

Trust me, this is where the positive peer pressure I mentioned comes in handy. The instructor and other children will have a much easier time getting them to try things than you will. Children see their instructors as authority, whereas they view Mommy as sympathy, someone who will let them stop anything that's uncomfortable. In my many years of teaching, I upset a few parents by asking at the beginning of the lessons that they sit at least 10 yards away and do not talk to their children. But every time, by the end of the classes, they were thrilled by how much their children learned in just 2 weeks.

At the same time, it's also important to stick close enough to see what's happening. You need to watch the skills they're learning so you can help them when you practice on your own time. It's great to ask for help with your practice sessions, so if you want to talk to their teacher outside of class time, feel free to ask them what you need to work on.

Swim Lessons are a great experience, but not everyone has access to them. If you have this problem, I'll talk more about techniques tomorrow.

Part 1 - Swimming Basics

2008-07-21T07:58:00.003-05:00

When it comes to learning to swim, consistency is key. While swim lessons are really beneficial (I'll talk about this more next time), it's important that children just go to the pool and practice. I prefer a public pool for many reasons: it's safer and cheaper than having your own, and a great way to encourage your children to try more in the water. Some call it a "positive peer pressure" and no matter how you feel about that, it really does work. If they see other children swim away from their parents or jump off the diving board, they will be more encouraged to try it themselves.

The other really important thing is to start as early as possible. Children can start learning at 6 months of age and most Infant/Parent Classes begin at the same time. This is a great age to start and is perfectly safe. They can even safely go under water, but there have to be limits, and you can check with your actual instructor if you take a class.

The last thing to remember is to stay relaxed. If you are afraid of the water and you let your child feel it, it will certainly increase their fear. Just as in other situations, children take cues from you, so it's important not to let negative feelings show. This means acting excited and smiling when you discuss going to the pool. Get in the water up to your chest (and the babies chest) relatively quickly and don't act like it's too cold. As you move around and try different skills, stay positive and have fun. If your baby/child goes under the water, even by accident, clap for them. You may be patting their back while they're coughing, but keep smiling and cheering. Don't let an accidental slip under become a negative- turn it into a positive with lots of praise and cheering.

I'll talk about Swim Lessons tomorrow in Part 2 and more about Practicing Skills in Part 3 on Wednesday.

Blog Award

2008-07-20T12:49:00.006-05:00

I got my first award and I'm so excited! Nicol gave it to me, which is such an honor, because her blog is one of my favorites to read! She has such an eye for decorating and organization, which are two of my favorite things. If I'm ever out her way, we'll have to have lunch! (I'm not expecting her to come to Italy any time soon...)

Once an award is received, the rules are as follows:

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.
4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blogs.

I thought about this all week and I think I have it narrowed down to seven. So here are the winners:

Tootie from Tootie's Place is hilarious. From the "Scorpion Saga" to her almost being dog food, I stop by her blog whenever I need a laugh. She is finishing her Master's and training for a Marathon... so I like to live vicariously through those things too!

Carrie from with all that I've been given, is one of my favorite bloggers. I love reading about her personal retreats and all the great things she reads. And she and I have the same birthday, in the same year, which is just so much fun!

Cheri from Keeping Up With His Plans always inspires me with her faith. She lived in Italy, so she can sympathize with how much life can drive you crazy here!

Susan from The Brandenburg Diaries is another Mom who knows what it's like to raise her child in a foreign country, speaking two languages. I love hearing about her experiences in Germany.

CanCan at My Greening: Going Green also lives the overseas experience and inspires me to work even harder at being environmental. She has some great giveaways, with many green products and baby items, so stop by her place.

Katydid at Katydid and Kid shares great tips on crafts, green products, and many other cool things. I just started reading her blog and I think I'll be stopping back more and more.

Bren J. at stranger in a stranger land is another blog I've just started reading. She has great recipes and a lot of interesting posts. This is sure to become one of my favorites.

Many of these people are on vacation, so I'm not sure if I'll hear from many of them soon, but I still wanted to give out the award. Congratulations to everyone!

Water Safety

2008-07-16T06:55:00.004-05:00

I was planning to do a post on bilingual children to share our experiences and offer tips on what has worked for us. Now, even though those posts are half written, I'm thinking more about water safety. I've seen a lot of posts about pools, boating, and other fun around the water and I thought I'd share some basic safety tips that many websites and other resources won't tell you. Love Bug and I are at the pool four to five times a week and I see so many parents struggling to teach their children to swim. I will admit that my certification is lapsed, but I was a lifeguard and swim instructor for 8 years before we moved overseas. I have been checking out current materials since I want to renew next year.

So, what are you questions? What do you want to know about teaching your children to swim or techniques to help them learn a certain skill in the water? Any questions about pools, lakes, beaches, or waterparks? Any questions about boating or water sports? I hope I can offer some advice and help make your time in or around the water more safe!

Home Sweet Home

2008-07-11T15:54:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share some exciting news with you all. I am going home to have the baby! All has finally been confirmed and my airline tickets are ready!

There's nothing wrong and no vital reason for this, just my comfort. I really like my doctor here, but culturally, the hospital is very different:
- With c-sections (which would be more likely, since I've had one already), Moms cannot breastfeed in recovery or see the baby until a few hours later
- Siblings can only come visit during very restricted hours
- They do not perform circumcision and we'd have to check into the children's hospital for another night to have it done (this is typical in Europe, since they don't really circumcise boys at all)

Obviously none of these things are issues at the hospital near my Mom's house. I also will have my Mom around more, since she could only take off two weeks to visit us, but actually only works part time. B will also take off 4 weeks, arriving just before the doctor's best guess of the birth date. He will come back around Thanksgiving for a quick trip to visit his family and then to help us come back to Rome. Because, really, did anyone think I could handle a two year old and a two month old, plus luggage, by myself on a trans-atlantic flight?

The best part? My husband's work actually prefers me to have my baby back in the US. So they're paying for our flights, rental car, and meals. Our insurance covers the medical care. All we have to do is find lodging, which as you can imagine, my Mom is thrilled to provide. We have a pediatrician and doctor we already use just down the street. The doctor is in a family practice and doesn't deliver babies, but she did refer me to her OB, who delivered all her children and also happens to be her best friend. I've already sent the OB my lab results, surgical report from my last birth, and talked on the phone with her assisting midwife many times, so I think we're ready!

I know it would be great to have a baby in Italy... trust me, I mourned over this for a long time. But I did it in France and while it was great, I really missed having the support of lots of family and friends around. Love Bug had only met my Mom, my Brother, B's parents, and a few others before our first trip home when she was 6 months old. I look forward to Dragonfly meeting all his family and many good friends before we return to Rome.

We're leaving in three weeks and I have a lot of prep to do before we go. A few boxes to mail (winter clothes and a few baby items), suitcases to pack, and I need to prepare the house for 4 months without me to keep everything under control! I'll keep updating you as we get close to our departure.

My little Dragonfly...

2008-07-09T07:45:00.000-05:00

I was asked by one of my family members (one of the many who reads my blog, but never comments) what my concerns are when it comes to having the new baby. She is referring to the last post... it's a very small part if you didn't notice.

My big concerns are just that everything goes well. I really would like to try a VBAC (Love Bug was a c-section due to large size), but I'm still not meeting all the criteria to try it, since he's still in breech position. Often second babies have ample room, with everything being stretched already, to move around a lot. I was told that he'll probably be head down by 34 or 36 weeks, and I hope they're right. He's smaller than Love Bug, so hopefully that will help.

I was worried about Dragonfly's development, since they found a large measurement on my last ultrasound, but that was resolved just today! We went for another ultrasound and they found that the measurement was normal for this age range and is of no concern anymore, so that is reassuring! Yeah!

My next concern may seem a little silly, but I'm worried that I won't have enough love for both kids. Love Bug is the absolute center of my world and I can't imagine having time for anyone else. My Mom and many friends with 2 or more kids, assure me that they all felt this way too. And they also assure me that they had no problem finding time and love for 2 kids or more! Still, two kids under 2 seems so overwhelming!

Fortunately a lot of worries with my first pregnancy aren't a problem now. I worried about breastfeeding last time, but since I did it exclusively for 7 months and then continued through 16 months, I'd say I'll be okay. I also worried about having a c-section, but now that I've had one, I can say it was no big deal. I'd rather avoid it to help me heal faster (again, 2 kids under two... I don't have time to heal), but overall, it was a good experience and I recovered quickly the first time. My other worry was having time with my husband, but we've made that a priority and we always find time for each other. I think our relationship is stronger now in many ways!

I already love Dragonfly so much and I just hope I can be as good a Mom to him as I am to Love Bug. I can't wait to meet him... 13 weeks and counting!

Another Book Post

2008-07-07T05:28:00.005-05:00

I just finished reading Eat, Pr.ay, Love by Elizabeth Gil.bert. While I enjoyed reading about her experiences in Italy, India, and Indonesia, I couldn't really identify with her. She is searching for herself and for meaning in her life, while I personally feel like I already know who I am.

Don't get me wrong- my life isn't perfect. I go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink or wet laundry in the wash. I sometimes watch a favorite movie while Love Bug plays alone, just because I need a break. I worry too much and let things get to me more than I should. My life isn't figured out yet, either- I don't know what I'll do when I'm ready to go back to work, and I don't know for sure if I'll teach again. I know I want to do something different when I get my Master's, but I don't know what field I'll choose.

Despite all this, I feel figured out, and I feel really good about my place in the world. I love my husband more each day and know I made the right choice when I married him. We still know how to make each other laugh. I dreamed about my daughter all through my pregnancy, and she is even more wonderful than any of my dreams. We play, laugh, go to the pool and park, and she learns more each day. I'm so thrilled that I'm about to have a baby boy. While I have my concerns, I know they're all normal. We'll both make it okay and he'll blend into our family just fine. My life is not at all what I planned, especially living overseas, but it's better than I ever hoped for.

I guess my point is that I understand the author's questioning of the choices in her life, but I'm so glad that I feel solid about my own. Why is it that my life feels so solid, while she feels that hers is so lost? Was I just lucky to find the right man, or did I choose the right person to marry? Is there something out there that I'm missing, or I'm I just lucky that motherhood is totally fulfilling for me? Do some people look at wrong choices as regrets, while I just see them as learning experiences? I have nothing to search for, because I've already found everything I need. I have no regrets, because I know I'm not done living my life.

What do you all think? Have any of your read this book or "searching for self" books like it?

Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Water Flying Out of the Tub

2008-07-05T01:00:00.002-05:00

I hope our fellow Americans had a wonderful 4th of July! We did and I'll tell you more about it later. Fun fact: Did you know that our Independance Day was originally intended to be celebrated on July 2nd, which was the day the Declaration of Independance was completed?

This is a little illustration I drew of our bath tub. This is a view from above, as if looking down from the ceiling.

Here'e what happens whenever I take a shower. Why would they install the shower head across the tub, rather than in the length of the bath tub?

This is what I wish our shower did, but I will probably not get my wish!

Does anyone else have something in their house installed oddly?

Our vacation...

2008-07-03T04:29:00.001-05:00

We went to Puglia on vacation, which is the heel of the "boot". Here are some of our favorite pictures from our trip:

The first night we arrived in this little village, the children of the town were putting on a show, with costumes, lights, and singing. So cute!

Our first meal had this amazing appetizer platter. Salmon, fruit/fish salad, shrimp, and octopus (the purple in the corner). I confess that I didn't like the octopus!

Being in Italy, a very Catholic country, there were religious monuments everywhere. I love the marine theme of this one.

Love Bug and Daddy cuddling on the beach...

We found this beautiful cove just up the road from our rental house. We reserved chairs and umbrellas for the week and just relaxed!

Walking back to the car after a long day at the beach. You can hardly tell that I'm pregnant. (he he)

We found this little village called Alberobello and did a little sight-seeing. These are all ancient houses made of white-washed clay with cone-shaped stone roofs.

The beautiful city of Matera later that day, where the houses are carved out of the side of a ravine.

Love Bug waiting for the shuttle up to the Castel del Monte. She loves this hat!

We finally got Love Bug a little raft after she tried to take them from other kids every single day on the beach!

Works-for-me-Wednesday: Peanut Butter and Chocolate Surprise Cookies

2008-07-02T09:18:00.003-05:00

Surprise Cookies

1 cup Kar.o Light Corn Syrup
1 cup Sugar
2 cups Peanut Butter
6-8 cups Special K
1 bag Her.shey's Kisses or Bra.ch's chocolate stars (open & unwrap ahead of time)

Combine light corn syrup and sugar in a large pot over high heat. Wait until you see it start bubbling and turn burner off. Add peanut butter quickly, and stir well. Add Special K until the cereal is all well covered and sticks together. Take one piece of chocolate and make a ball of peanut butter mixture around the chocolate in about 1 & 1/2 inch balls. Lay on wax paper until cool and hardened. Makes about 4 dozen. Since Special K is the main ingredient, these cookies are actually really healthy... hehe! ;-)

* * * * * *

Note: These cookies have evolved in our family over generations. My grandmother found the recipe (many of you might already know it) for peanut butter bars with melted chocolate on top. She later decided she liked them as dropped cookies better. My Mom used Bra.ch's chocolate stars or Her.shey's Kisses for the chocolate bit on top, to give the cookies a nicer look. I've now put the chocolate inside, hence the surprise part of the name. We even had a period where they were called "Lifeguard Cookies" because I used to make them for the lifeguards when I was a pool manager! Does anyone know what the original recipe was called?

Stop by Work-for-me-Wednesday hosted by Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer for more 5 ingredients or less recipes!

The Giveaway Winner is...

2008-06-30T16:21:00.000-05:00

Nicol with the name, Dragonfly. She gets her first pick of the prizes here. The second place name (and second choice of prizes) is Cricket, suggested by Kathleen W. If we have a third child, Cricket he/she will be! We don't have a third place, so I picked names and Susan gets the third prize. I'll leave comments on your blog or email you all to get your choice of prizes and what type of chocolate you want.

Other than picking our favorite name, we did a lot on vacation... a lot of relaxing, that is! I'll post pictures soon!

On Vacation...

2008-06-20T20:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry, no names yet for the giveaway. It will have to wait until we get back. We have been so busy packing lately and getting ready! I'm so sorry everyone... I promise soon- we are taking the list to the beach! Until then, think of me sitting on the beach, pondering your picks...

Are you prepared?

2008-06-19T04:23:00.000-05:00

My husband's uncle passed away recently. We've been keeping in touch with family so we can find out what has been going on and how we can help. B's mom has been helping her sister go through everything, and after some basic assessment, had some horrible news.

B's uncle did not have life insurance, so the funeral and other expenses will need to be covered by the family. He cancelled his health insurance a while ago (he's self-employed), so his medical care and ambulance services will also have to be covered by his family. Now they find he has been receiving forclosure notices on the house for the past few months. He also has no will and no money. B's aunt only has a part-time job and will soon lose her house. She is in the worst situation financially, and it couldn't have come at a worse time. I forget how lucky we all were that my parent's were so well prepared, so when my Dad passed, financial worries weren't a worry at all.

I want to note is that B's aunt didn't know any of this. She was of a different era and her husband took care of everything financial. It's fine to have one spouse take care of the finances, but the other person should always have access to everything and check up on things from time to time. My Mom was a rarity in her era... she did all our family finances herself. My Dad worked a lot and my Mom has both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in mathematics... so, it was a no brainer. My husband and I do things the same way... he has a way with languages, culture, and geography... I'm the math and science girl, so I'm in charge of our finances. But B still knows what's going on and knows that we're prepared.

No matter what your situation, please make sure that you at least set aside an emergency savings for something like this if you can't afford life insurance. Also write up burial instructions, and write up a quick will. You can find them online- all you do is fill in your name and print. Then take it to a notary public for signatures and give a copy to close family and put one in your file cabinet at home.

There is even more you can do... check online for tons of free resources on how to make sure your finances are stable. It's great to have 6 months salary saved up, put money away for your retirement, and prepare for your childrens' education expenses. We've completed all these goals and continue to contribute to the funds each month. I really do rest easier at night. It feels good to be prepared.

Medicine, the Giveaway Contest, and Vacation...

2008-06-16T17:58:00.005-05:00

Sorry that I haven't posted in awhile, but I've been enjoying my new found freedom! Freedom from dry skin, slow digestion, and especially fatigue and weakness. They have started me on thyroid replacement hormones and I feel amazing! Check this post for more background. I feel so good, I can't believe that it's only been five days since I started the medicine. I also now understand why I couldn't lose any weight after Love Bug was born and why I gained so much with this pregnancy eating nothing. In the five days I've been on medication, I've already lost 3 pounds. Yes, this concerns me, and I'm getting help to step up my diet an add extra healthy calories to my day. I've been so used to not being hungry that it seems strange to be so hungry all the time now and I'm still getting used to eating more. Hypothyroidism is pretty common, especially among women. I've also seen on some websites that it's common after age 50, but my obstetrician and endocrinologist said that they see it in women my age very often, especially during or just after pregnancy.

As for the Giveaway Contest, we still don't have a winner yet. You gave us so many great suggestions, and we're still discussing them. We just picked his real name and that took us weeks, so you'll have to allow us a few days at least for his internet name. Hopefully by Friday I'll have an answer for you.

I won't be able to send the prizes until the first week of July. We're going on vacation next week, so I'll send them as soon as I return. I also promise to return with lots of pictures and stories about our time at the beach. Yeah- I can't wait!

Friday Night in Rome

2008-06-14T04:40:00.009-05:00

Love Bug and her pizza! Yum!

Last night we went out for a night on the town and it was so much fun. We started out early, around 5 pm, to do some shopping. I was desperately looking for shoes, since my feet have started swelling to giantess proportions. We ended up not finding anything, but it was so fun to look!

We met B after work and walked around the Campo de'Fiori before heading up to the area around the Pantheon. We found a place to eat and had a wonderful meal of bruschetta, salad, pizza, and wine (just a sip for me).

We're making our way up to Blue Ice, my favorite gelato place, and guess who we saw?

Yes, that is Ron H.oward in the middle wearing the blue baseball cap! And to the right, facing the other way, is Tom H.anks! They're here to film Angel.s & Demon.s. How cool is that? Although, I must say that I wonder about Ron H.owards taste. B had Love Bug on his shoulders for about 10 minutes, and not once did he rush over and say what a beautiful baby she was, and how he was going to write a movie just for her. Oh, well!

Today my Mom is leaving to go back to the States. Her visit was so great and we had a great time! We'll miss you Mom, but we can't wait to see you again soon!

Organizing our keys... part 2

2008-06-11T00:07:00.005-05:00

Stop by my Giveaway Contest here... And please stop by again to suggest more names!

My next task was the front door keys. We were left a pile of keys in a kitchen drawer and four different key sets on keychains... none making any more sense than another. I finally took all the keys off the keychains and tested each one. I took a few different baggies to place them in once they worked in a specific lock, labeled front door, building door, garage, front gate, and cantina (this is a storage space that most Italians have in their apartments... usually in the attic or basement of the building). I was able to then sort the keys, label the keys, make copies of whatever else we needed, and put them on keychains for B, for myself, an emergency set at a neighbor's, for houseguests, and for our cleaning lady.

The bad news... it did take about three hours to do, but at least I was able to combine the task with taking Love Bug to the playground while I checked the gate and building doors. The good news... in the end, we only had two keys left that didn't belong anywhere. One looked like a bike lock, that someone probably moved with and forgot the key when they turned in the apartment keys. The other was a front door key, but it was different than the sets we had. Finally we remembered that our locks were changed just before we moved in, and these must've been the old keys that they forgot to give to the locksmith. We called and turned them in, despite the fact that they said our old lock was probably already recycled and melted down.

It feels so good to have all this done. Does anyone else have a great organizing story they could share on their blog? Something that is unusual and not mentioned in many organizing books or magazines, like me and my keys? Who knows, maybe our different experiences could actually help each other!

Sorting my keys!

Organizing our household keys... part 1

2008-06-09T05:19:00.003-05:00

Don't forget to check out my Giveaway Contest here... And yes, please go back and suggest more than one name if you haven't already... it's allowed!

Sometimes organizing your life means coming up with solutions that work best for you and your family. There aren't always tips for how to organize certain areas of your life, especially if they aren't common. For us, that is our keys... there are so many more keys to keep track of here.

We live in a typical European apartment, in the sense that it is very closed off, with doors into every room and even doors on each hallway. Each door has a key, an individual skeleton key (and yes, they're all different). I didn't want to leave each one in the doors, since Love Bug will eventually learn to turn them. If the door is closed, that also means she's locking them and potentially locking herself in as well. So, I took them out and was on a quest to find something that worked for us, for our keys.

I placed these hooks, high on the wall, in different areas of our house. Then, I tied pretty bows on each set of keys, and placed them on the hooks. The keys for the main part of the house- living room french doors, dining room door, kitchen door, etc. were hung by the phone in the front hall. The keys for all the bedrooms and the bedroom hallway are hung in our room. And each bathroom has it's own key hanging inside for additional privacy when using the toilet or shower.

Here are some examples:

I'll write more about the other things I did to organize our keys in a few days...

My Giveaway Contest

2008-06-06T18:27:00.011-05:00

UPDATE: Comments are now closed. I'll let you know on Monday, after B and I talk it over!

It's my choice to leave most personal details, espeically my husband and daughter's names, off my blog, so I need a blog name/nickname for the new baby, arriving in October. Here are the criteria I'm looking for:

1. Insect Themed- since I have a Love Bug, this name has to match!
2. Masculine- it's a boy.
3. Cute- no scary or gross names allowed... cute insects only.
4. No moth related names (as I said in my 100 things post, number 14 & 15, I hate moths.)
5. Honor system here... think of names, comment on them, and don't read other comments and their ideas until you're done. If more than one person thinks of my favorite name, I'll give multiple prizes.

And now, for the best part, here is what you can win! One of these great book and candle combinations pictured below, with some Italian chocolate thrown in! Check out the pictures of the books and candles I'm giving away below. I'll contact you if you win to see what book and candle you want, as well as your favorite type of chocolate (dark, milk, or white). The winner (or first to comment on my favorite name, if there are multiple winners) gets the choose which one they want. I have them pictured together, but you can choose any combination you want.

Confessions of an Organized Homemaker by Deniece Schofield and a Large Yankee Candle in Clean Cotton Scent

Hope Through Heartsongs by Mattie J.T. Stepanek and a Teal Blue Villeroy & Boch tealight holder (with 4 extra tealights)

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and a Gold and Cream Star Candle

Depending on the number of prizes left (I'm giving away all three), you can also win another book, candle, with bonus chocolate, just by entering. Earn yourself another entry by mentioning my Giveaway on your blog- but don't forget to comment that you did this, so I can come check it out. And yes, you can suggest more than one name! Please do!

You must enter by Sunday, June 15th at noon (here in Europe- that's 6:00 AM Eastern
time).

Please help me... come up with some creative names! I'm so excited to see your ideas. Happy naming!

Yeah... my Mom is here!

2008-06-06T00:12:00.006-05:00

I was going to write about Bel Canto, a book a read a while ago, but I just kept getting stuck. Does anyone else sometimes get stuck when they are writing? You have all these ideas in bed, as you're running around during the day, but they never seem to come to you when you're sitting at the computer!

My Mom arrived yesterday and it's so great to have her here! We have lots of fun things planned, like another day at the beach, and some stuff we haven't explored yet. As a bonus to her wonderful company, she also brought us some new things that we needed, especially a new laptop! It works so well and I don't have to be in safe mode anymore... yeah!

I also found out yesterday that my thyroid is acting up again. The good news is that they know what's going on, but the bad news is that I'm officially hypothyroid. But in an attempt to focus on the good, at least it is something that is relatively easy to treat and won't hurt the baby. It's a simple thyroid hormone replacement. I thought I remembered Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer blogging about it, and reading her very laid back account of this makes me feel better. I hope it's a result of this pregnancy (my endocrinologist said it's possible). If this is the cause, it should go away a few months post-partum.

I'm just glad that I finally know why I couldn't lose weight after Love Bug was born, no matter how hard I tried. The doctor said, which is a huge relief, that after the pregnancy, all my pregnancy weight (from both babies) should come off much easier. This is a little vain, so I can fit in my clothes, but mostly, I just want to feel good about myself and feel healthy again. I've had tiredness and weakness for a long time, and I'm glad that will be better too. Please pray for wisdom for my doctors to treat me with the best of their ability, and pray that I'm a good patient and do well on the treatments.

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for my Giveaway Contest!

If we are actors on God's stage...

2008-06-03T10:05:00.001-05:00

Another part from that book I really loved, Gilead, by Maril.ynne Robins.on, reads:

"Calvin says somewhere that each of us is an actor on a stage and God is the audience. That metaphor has always interested me, because it makes us artists of our behavior, and the reaction of God to us might be thought of as aesthetic rather than morally judgmental in the ordinary sense. How well do we understand our role? With how much assurance do we perform it?"

I love this verse mostly because it gives me a context of which to think of God. It reminds me of my view of Love Bug. The world is her stage and I am her audience. I have no doubt that God is a much more divine audience (and much more polite, since he never yells, "Mommy says don't touch!" at me). But I hope he takes as much pleasure watching me, as I have in watching Love Bug. I hope that, like me, he sees missteps as endearing. I also hope, that like him, I can find positive ways to help Love Bug find her way (and her way to Him) when she has done wrong. Love Bug is my child, and this text reminds me that in a similar way, we are the children of God.

Three-Day Weekend and Coming Up This Week

2008-06-01T16:56:00.011-05:00

One of the things that I love about living overseas is unexpected holidays. In the US, we learn in the early grade school years when to expect certain holidays. Without fail, each year they arrive, and we're all free for a day. But overseas, you're always learning about new holidays in each place you live.

My husband came home Friday afternoon and I thought I heard him say something about a three-day weekend. What, what, what?!?! When he comfirmed, that yes, June 2nd is a holiday here (Foundation of the Republic), I was so excited! Three whole days with Daddy... what lucky girls we are!

We went to mass on Saturday night and then had a special dinner afterwards, as usual. Sometimes with friends (like last night) or sometimes with family. Saturday night mass is the mass we usually attend. The Catholic Church has offered a Saturday Vigil Mass for about 40 years and more and more protestant churches are following suit. It's based on the old ideas of celebrations and Sabbath day starting the evening before at sundown. For us, it works so well with our schedule and ensures that Love Bug is quiet so we can enjoy the service and pay attention to the homily (sermon). We've gotten so many compliments on her good behavior, and we're just lucky that this is a time of the day when she's winding down and can sit quietly with a toy or book. If Love Bug is any indication, all of our children will be Night Owls, like their Mom and Dad.

Today we got up and had a nice big breakfast and then rested, read, and played all day. Love Bug enjoyed it and actually took two naps, which means that I got to finish my latest book, The Conspiracy of Paper, by David Liss. As I've said before, I don't have much choice about what I read, because they're usually sent to me by kind family and friends who know that the only English library here is very small and hard to get to from our place. This is from my cousin, who loves this type of historical fiction, and she's slowly turning me into a fan as well. I probably won't post anything about this one, but you can read the description on the link I added. I would definitely recommend it. It's fast paced and there are so many different elements, and unanswered questions at the end of each chapter, that you can't help but keep reading.

This week I have another post ready about Gilead, the book I posted about a month ago. Later in the week, I have a post ready about Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett, which is the book I read between the last two I mentioned.

Finally, next weekend, I'm having a Giveaway Contest. It's good... very good! I'll give you more details next weekend, but please stop by!

Today...

2008-05-29T07:04:00.003-05:00

Today would've been my Dad's birthday. I would love to talk to him and make a few "you're so old" jokes. I would love to put the phone to Love Bug's ear so she could show off one of her new words. And I would really love to just say hi and tell him how much I love him.

Today I'm am okay and I've finally come to a good place. I miss him, I don't like that he's gone, but dwelling on the bad does me no good, and it certainly doesn't honor him the way he deserves. My Dad was not the common virus (likely just a cold) that attacked his heart- he was such a healthy man. And the day my Mom found his body, after his spirit had already gone, does no justice to the rest of the days he really lived. He was someone who told great stories, could make anyone laugh, and someone people loved to talk to. He was a kind and faithful husband to my Mom until the day he died and he was the best Dad to my brother and me. He was a wonderful friend, a fabulous person to work for, and a good neighbor. To focus on the day my Dad died, rather than the 19,011 other wonderful days of his life, is unfair to the kind of positive person he was.

Today I pray for the rest of my family. I wake up everyday and choose to be here, in this good place. Some family members are so far away from closure, and still haven't been able to let him go. I hope they can find their way because the memory of him is much better from here.

Shower Curtain Hooks

2008-05-27T19:53:00.000-05:00

I was going to write a Works-for-me-Wednesday post, but I had to ask about you all about shower curtain hooks instead. Does anyone hate these things? When I was back in the states last fall and shopping for our new place, I had to look for some. We only had one shower in Paris and the rings there were breaking, after being used for nearly 6 years. I shopped and these shower curtain hooks seemed to be the latest thing, so I bought them. They were only slightly more expensive than the regular rings and looked like so much fun.

Well, they are not fun. Not at all. Every time I try to move the curtain, even just slightly, a few hooks fall off. If you really forget and move fast, about half come off. I just don't have time to worry about this, especially since I shower (with the curtain in) and Love Bug baths (with the curtain out), in the same tub. I've seen some reviews that state you need a heavier curtain to hold the hooks in place. My shower curtain is thick plastic and the fabric curtain that hangs outside (on the same hooks) is pretty heavy as well, so this is not the problem.

When you look online to find something else, all you can see for miles are these stupid hooks. I finally called my Mom to help me since she's the one that will ultimately buy these things anyway. (She visits next week and always brings me lots of goodies.) She had the same problem and knows where to find those great rings with the rollers on the top. Anyway else feel the way we do? Why do stores keep ordering these hooks if no one likes them?

Sand, Sand Everywhere!

2008-05-25T19:43:00.001-05:00

We went to the beach today. It took less than an hour to be out in the warm sun (85 and sunny!) from our front door to our rented lounge chairs. We all loaded up on sunscreen so Love Bug just has a very light color... yeah, no burn! B and I weren't so lucky... we were so worried about Love Bug's skin that we did our sunscreen very quickly and left out some spots. I have a weird red patch down my right leg and the tops of B's feet are like lobsters with toes. We also look like we're straight out of Braveheart with crazy red streaks all over our faces. Our backs are fine (which we did for each other), so at least we know that we still care about each other, just not ourselves anymore!

We played in the sand, visited the playground on the beach, and ate some pizza for lunch. By the time we asked a friend who joined us what time it was, four hours had gone by and none of us had realized it! That was more than enough Vitamin D for one day, so we packed up and headed to the car.

Once we got home, I realized that the amazing childhood phenomenon of sand getting everywhere, extends as a Mom. You have to clean out everything once you arrive home and are no longer responsible for just your shoes and yourself. Sand not only shows up in weird places all over your swimsuits, it finds its way into pages of a book, crevices of every water bottle you have, and even ends up as a large pile of sand just inside your front door. I washed our towels and as the water was draining out after the first rinse cycle, I watched sand flow out of the washer and down the drain for what seemed like minutes! Our guest room/laundry room has a bathroom attached. Living in an old place, they installed the washer years later and have it draining in the tub of the bathroom. You can see everything that drains, which is normally just a few pieces of lint, not almost a cup of sand! I put the rest of our beach gear in that bathroom and plan to continue cleaning out tomorrow!

I have never noticed this problem when we've been at my Mom's condo in Florida and we've spent a lot of time there over the years. It's a vacation home, so I guess a little sand doesn't seem so gross there, but I need a better system of sand control. We love the beach, and with it only being an hour away, I'm sure we'll be there almost every weekend! Does anyone have any good ideas? Should I just keep everything we used today in one bag and designate that our beach bag, like my Mom does in Florda? Should I shake towels out more thoroughly once we get home and park in our garage? Any tips you have would be really helpful. We've never lived so close to the ocean before and I want to really enjoy it and not dread the clean up afterwards!

The last two weeks...

2008-05-24T17:08:00.002-05:00

First, I'm blue... no, not sad. I'm having a boy! As much as I wanted Love Bug to have a sister (and I do have all these gorgeous girl clothes), I'm so excited! As my friend says, "You won the gender lottery". I don't know if I'd say that, but it is nice to know that I'll get to experience motherhood with both a girl and a boy. We go for a more detailed ultrasound next week and I know my husband is excited to see for himself that, yes, it is a boy. I told him that I saw "it" pretty clearly, but I guess he just wants to make sure!

I continue to have annoying little worries crop up, and it reminds me that I took my easy pregnancy with Love Bug for granted. My doctor told me, just after we saw that it was a boy, that I have a low-lying placenta. It should move up on it's own, since almost 20% of pregnancies at this point, 20 weeks, are low like mine. Fortunately less than 1% are that way by the end, so it certainly looks good for me. But just the same, pray for me... partially for my placenta to move, but also to just relax and quit worrying about everything. I need to trust in God's plan to bring me a healthy baby and keep me healthy, and sane, throughout.

Well, it wasn't a computer virus that kept me away, like I thought (or now wish)... our poor laptop is going. This computer has served us well; it has probably travelled 20,000 miles or more, been dropped a few times, and banged on by a toddler for the last few months. It's over 3 years old and is just wishing for a peaceful end. We're doing just that, running it in safe mode, until my Mom brings our new laptop when she visits in two weeks. We ordered our new one, complete with the touchscreen that I'm drooling over, and as much as I'll miss this little guy, I'm excited to see all the new features it has! After we're set up, we'll clean out the hard drive and donate the old one for parts.

I'll catch you all up on my home-improvements projects after I download some pictures. After two weeks without internet, I see just how much I've gotten done! We now have curtains or blinds in every room, and I've planted all my window boxes. I'm working on some other projects too (baby proofing, some t-shirt quilts) and I'll incorporate many of my pictures into my posts over the next few weeks. We're going to the beach on Monday (for Memorial Day) so I'll have those pictures to share as well.

I'm glad to be back and you'll see my comments more and more these days, I hope. I had 196 posts to catch up on when I logged on to my reader... but I'm almost done. As I said after my last bloggy break... us bloggers are a long-winded bunch!

Keep Your Fingers Crossed!

2008-05-20T04:32:00.001-05:00

The english-speaking computer technician is coming tonight! Please cross your fingers for me. I'm tired of bumming computer time of off increasingly annoyed friends!

See you all soon... I hope!

UPDATED Moms, Virus, and a Prayer

2008-05-12T13:36:00.002-05:00

I have a great mother's day post... but of course I typed it on word. I'll find it when we get our computer back (see below) and post it soon!

Our computer has a virus and I'll be out of commission for a few days at least. I'll miss you and check in when I can. *B (my husband) is trying to find our virus scan disk, so hopefully in a few days.... *

Please also say a prayer for me tomorrow. I have my appointment with the endocrinologist. It sounds like everything should be fine and they just need to monitor my thyroid hormones, but I'll feel better when I know that for sure. *UPDATE: Everything went great at the endo! He did an ultrasound of my neck and they said that everything looks fine. We'll just continue doing the blood tests and monitor it to see that the levels go back to normal after I have the baby.*

Have a great week!

Diaper decisions...

2008-05-08T07:17:00.003-05:00

As I told you a few months ago, I've been unable to use the more biodegradable diapers at times, because I can't find them. Really I want to go one better anyway and start using cloth diapers or something similar. I've been researching cloth diapers for about a month and the maintenance (multiple washings) sounds pretty environmentally unfriendly! Nicol had a comment that mentioned gDi.apers- does anything use these or know about these? It seems that gDiapers, while expensive, are less work and better for the environment. Our toilets have a half flush option, so if that works, it may use less water too. Anyone have any other ideas?

Speaking of the environment, I got a great email from my friend Lynn with a great video to watch. You can check it out here. Eye opening stuff! Make sure you also check out the 10 recommendations for another way! I love all of them, but number 2 is my personal goal right now. We're down to one 13 gallon bag (medium trashcan) per week... yeah!

What-Doesn't-Work-for-me-Wednesday: Antibacterial Soaps and Lotions

2008-05-07T01:49:00.001-05:00

I'm definitely a germ-conscience Mom, but now I'm questioning my love for anything antibacterial. More and more reports are saying that kids need more exposure to germs. Adding to my concern is that in the last 3 days, I have read two very scary articles...

Daycare may protect kids from leuk.emia... if you'd like to avoid reading it, it basically says that some kids are born with a genetic mutation and if they get certain infections, it can trigger leuk.emia. The theory is that if children are exposed to and contract many infections in early childhood, they will have better immunity later.

The next article I read was from Pare.nts Magazine called "Surprising News About Diabe.tes". The don't know exactly what causes type I diabe.tes, but they think it could be caused by environmental factors. One they mention is Extreme Cleanliness, since many of our kids aren't exposed to normal germs, their immune systems aren't as strong, which can cause an auto-immune reaction in the pancreas... type I diabe.tes.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am a Stay-At-Home Mom and plan to keep it that way. Daycare has some positives, but also has some negatives, and I won't change my parenting philosophies for a theoretical risk... especially if I can do something about it.

I have decided to stop buying antibacterial gels and hand soaps. Many pediatricians, including mine, seem to think we should anyway. And maybe we should be scheduling more play dates and playgroups, even if kids are sick, to expose everyone to normal germs. I need to be careful of disease since I'm pregnant and I'll also want to be careful once the baby is born. But once the baby is a few months old, I will swear off them for good.

Now, if I could only get Bath & Bo.dy Works to make a hand soap without antibacterial properties. I love their scents so much! Anyone know if they already make it? Anyone want to join me in emailing them to request that they start a new line of regular (non-antibacterial) hand soaps?

To share what doesn't work for you, stop by Shannon's blog, Rocks in my Dryer.

Pregnant? Oh yeah, I forgot!

2008-05-05T06:37:00.011-05:00

I apologize for the messed up spacing and font... I couldn't get it back to normal and had to put these periods in to keep spaces between paragraphs!
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I realized I haven't told you all much about my pregnancy. When you have another child to take care of, it's not on your mind constantly, like it was your first time. That's not to say I'm not excited and feeling incredibly blessed... it just means that I really don't have much time to think about it! When I do think about it, what I find incredible is that this happened without even trying- we hoped to be settled in Italy before we had another baby. Love Bug was conceived after scary tests, over two years of trying, and lots of prayer. She was a miracle, but to be considered "fertile" now is even more miraculous.
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I'm almost 18 weeks. We have the big ultrasound in three weeks and will hopefully find out what we're having. I know, I know... I'm no fun. It's for my sanity really. All of our baby gear is neutral, but we have a problem in the clothing department (picture all pink, all flowers... all the time). I will have to buy a few things for each age range if it's a boy. I won't go crazy, but I can't leave the house with him dressed in pink all the time. Poor child might end up in a few of Love Bug's sleepers as it is. A healthy baby is the most important thing, so we don't care what gender it is, but secretly, I hope it's a girl. I didn't have a sister and would be thrilled if Love Bug did.

I've felt pretty good... just some typical morning sickness and heartburn. My doctor now thinks I have a thyroid problem. I'm going to see an endocrinologist to have an ultrasound of my thyroid done next week. My actual thyroid hormones are great, but my thyroid stimulating hormone is really low. They think it's either small thyroid nodule or just a problem at the lab. They've successfully reassured me that it's not cancer, since my TSH would be normal (not low) and I'd have a noticeable lump (which I don't), so that makes me feel better. Please pray for the baby's safety, and mine as well. But hey, knock on wood that this is my worst complication, and I'll be one happy Momma.

So far Love Bug has no idea (obviously, she's only 18 months), but we have a few babies for her to carry around. We will keep those as a focus as the day gets closer. The only big impact on her was that we stopped breastfeeding a month ago. I decided in the end that it was such an amazing bonding experience between the two of us and it was only fair to the new baby to repeat this one-on-one time. Maybe it sounds silly, but I didn't want the new baby to have to compete for my attention in that way, and I didn't want to stop too late, for fear that Love Bug might be mad that the baby took this special time away from her. Love Bug had weaned herself down to two feeds on their own, so I forced the last two, but she took it really well. No interruptions in her schedule and she has never pulled my shirt up once. We made it almost 17 months, with no need for formula or supplements, and I feel really good about that.

I definitely feel more prepared, if that's reassuring to those of you who have yet to attempt round two. I have the maternity clothes, know what to expect, and generally feel much less worried and stressed about this pregnancy. I'll keep you posted, but really, with a toddler to chase around, it will hopefully keep going by quickly, happily, and healthily.

Book Posting, Number 1

2008-05-02T09:35:00.001-05:00

As I said when I came back from my blog break, I'm hoping to post my reactions to the books I've read, here on my blog. You'll see by my posts, I just come by most books randomly. The one English speaking library here is small and the findings are often random. I could go in with a list of 10-20 books I'd love to read, and come out with 3 or 4 completely different ones that look good. In fact, most of my friends agree with me that they have never found the book they were looking for! I've read 6 books since I arrived, mostly chic lit, to sooth my crazy soul after days of unpacking and finding my way around Italy. I've finally read something I wanted to post about, so here it is...

As you know, we've had trouble with our neighbors. I've been able to pray about it and reflect on what in their life was making them so loud and inconsiderate of other people. Your comments after that post were so kind, but really I have to give the credit to a book I just read.

I can't honestly tell you why this book came into my life, but I know it was meant to be. It's a sad book and I tend to read only sad things that I know that I can handle. With my Dad's unexpected death just two years ago, a story of a dying father would not make the top of my "to read" list. I think I took it in the end, because it was about a pastor, and I already enjoyed the Mitford Series so much.

As hard as my Dad's death was on me, it was also so very hard for my Mom, so I'm sure you'd never think I'd find it on her bookshelves. But that's exactly where it was. I asked her after I read it, why she would buy such a sad book, so close to our situation? My Mom explained that it was a book from her book club, and normally she would never have bought it either.

The book is Pulitzer Prize winning Gilead, by Maril.ynne Ro.binson. Here is the paragraph that really changed how I was viewing my neighbors, and it's changed how I view everyone I meet as well:

"When you encounter another person, when you have dealings with anyone at all, it is as if a question is being put to you. So you must think, What is the Lord asking of me in this moment, in this situation? If you confront insult or antagonism, your first impulse will be to respond in kind. But if you think, as it were, This is an emissary sent from the Lord, and some benefit is intended for me, first of all the occasion to demonstrate my faithfulness, the chance to show that I do in some small degree participate in the grace that saved me, you are free to act otherwise than as circumstances would seem to dictate. You are free to act by your own light. You are freed at the same time of the impulse to hate or resent that person. He would probably laugh at the thought that the Lord sent him to you for your benefit (and his), but that is the perfection of the disguise, his own ignorance of it."

So I've been working on this. Working on my usual reactions to the people and things that bother me. It's hard, after years of scoffing at those who walk too slow, at people who jump on the bus before I can get off with my big stroller, to change how I feel about them. I'm trying to look at slow walkers, as a question to myself, "Do you really need to get somewhere that fast? Can you slow down and enjoy the world around you?" I try to see the bus crazies as the question to myself, "Do you need to talk the bus? Could you benefit from exercise of walking and pushing a stroller instead?"

It's been helping a lot. Does anyone think about things like this when they're dealing with difficult people? Any recent situations you want to share, like with my neighbors?

What are your quirks?

2008-04-30T09:40:00.001-05:00

I know that everyone has quirks on how they like to have their house arranged, but I may have more than your average person. I'm pretty obsessed with organization and I love when my house is neat. Here are a few of my quirks or things that have to be just so:

I like the toilet paper to have the loose end over the top and hanging down in front. When my husband puts it on the other way, I try to ignore it, but usually end up turning it around at some point.
We have this boot tray and it drives me crazy when people just kick their shoes anywhere.
In my kitchen, when I empty the dishwasher I put the clean dishes and silverware on the bottom or in the back, so that everything gets even wear. (I know, I know... this one is particularly nutty.)
I keep all the doors in my house open (I close some now to aid in baby-proofing), but I like how open and flowing it feels. Europeans like their doors closed, especially in the bathrooms. They also do this in large multi-stall bathrooms, so it's really difficult sometimes to figure out which one is unoccupied!

I have more, but I don't want to scare you. Really... if I told you how I like to arrange my knick-knacks and pictures, you might have me committed.

What are your quirks? Anyone want to share some so I don't feel so strange? What about those who live outside of the US- any cultural quirks you notice?

Giveaway: Books with a small side of chocolate

2008-04-27T09:05:00.002-05:00

Without further ado...

... the winner of Giveaway #1, the book Troubl.e Free Tra.vel with Chil.dren, by Vicki La.nsky, is Ginny at Mom of 2. Congratulations!

... the winner of Giveaway #2, the book SA.HM I am: Ta.les of a Stay-at-Home Mom in Eur.ope, by Chr.istine Louise Hohlb.aum, is Sarah at Enchantingly Simple.

The will also get a little chocolate treat in their package as well! I've left them either comments or emails, and if they don't claim their prize by next Sunday, May 4th, I will pick someone else. Thanks for everyone who participated! For links to all the winners, stop by bloggygiveaways.com!

Our Vatican Tour

2008-04-23T05:40:00.005-05:00

We took a tour of the Vatican last week. The nice thing about living in cities like Paris and Rome is that you never feel pressured to see everything. I know I'll go back to the Vatican, so I can take my time, listen to the tour guide, and come back to anything I want to see again or check out in more detail.

Just a few pictures...

This is the Egyptian Obelisk out in front of St. Peter's Square. It was originally situated just behind the current location of the Vatican and was the site of St. Peter's crucifixion. He is buried just under St. Peter's Basilica.

A view of St. Peter's... this really doesn't give it justice. It is huge... the biggest church in the world. Seeing the altar from the back makes it look small, but if you walk further, the altar is so large that you can see the scale of everything. We'll definitely have to go back, look around more, and get a better picture, since the sun was in the front windows when I took this picture.

Our family behind the Vatican Museum, with the Roman fountains to the right. Love Bug is fast asleep (as she was for much of the tour) and you can see my big baby bump if you click to zoom. I wasn't showing at all with Love Bug by this point, but at 16 weeks, I'm huge already!

We had such a good time and loved our tour guide! Have any of you been to Rome? What was your favorite place here?

UPDATED Giveaway: Books with a small side of chocolate

2008-04-21T05:10:00.010-05:00

*UPDATED* I've now closed comments on this giveaway... my daughter and her playdate friend will pick the winners tomorrow, Sunday, April 27th. Sorry you didn't make it in time... please stop by for the next giveaway!

Welcome to my blog and my giveaway! I hope you'll come back occasionally and say hi!

Giveaway #1 is a book called Trou.ble Free Trav.el with Chil.dren by Vicki Lan.sky. It's a good book, but it's not right for my situation. It is pretty focused on domestic travel within the United States and most of the information on foreign travel is for one big trip, whereas I actually live and travel in Europe most of the time. Anyway, I thought it would be great to giveaway for someone who wants more advice and hasn't travelled much with their children, or someone who has children of all different ages to entertain. And since I'm known for giving away chocolate, you know I'll throw in a bit just for fun!

Giveaway #2 is a book called SA.HM I Am: Tal.es of a Stay-at-Home Mom in Eu.rope by Chris.tine Louise Hohl.baum. I borrowed it from a friend but didn't finish, and this is the copy I bought to finish it, so I'll admit, sheepishly, that it's slightly used. And, as promised above, I'll also throw in a little chocolate with this one as well.

Please add your comment below to be entered in the drawing, and let me know if you want to enter for #1, #2, or both. Don't forget to leave your email address if your blog won't be linked on your comment. I'll pick a winner on Saturday, April 26th and notify the winners right away. This giveaway, because of the international spirit of this blog, will be open to anyone!

Visit the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival for more giveaways! Have fun!

House tour... part 3

2008-04-19T12:31:00.013-05:00

This is part 3 of our house tour...

This is the living room, facing out towards the windows. I love the ottoman we bought to use as a coffee table- it's turned out to be perfect for toddling toddlers. (The black thing in the corner by the window is our treadmill.)

The other view of our living room, towards the dining room... I like that we have bookshelves on either side of the opening to the dining room.

Our TV cabinet with a view from the couch.

Our dining room... you can see Love Bug's little table and chairs at the front of the picture.

Some of our favorite family photos in the hallway...

and the other side of the hall, and more photos.

Our toy organizer... I love the colorful bins and how all the toys can be seen.

We put all of Love Bug's toys around the room on foam blocks, so that when she drops toys or balls, it won't bother the people downstairs.

Another toy on foam blocks. Here you can see our carpet too, and it covers most of the center of the room. It helps a lot with noise as well. For as many complaints as we have, our downstairs neighbor smiles at us, coos at Love Bug, and has never said a word.

That's about it!. You can see other parts of the tour by going to Part 1 or Part 2. I still have a few things to show you, like our foyer and pantry, and I'll get to taking those pictures one day soon!

Decisions and prayer

2008-04-17T12:56:00.009-05:00

A few people asked, after my last part of the house tour, if we were planning to stay in this apartment. It's hard to say because finding something available any time soon is difficult, and we do feel very settled here. The noise has not improved, despite our complaints, but we've learned to adapt our schedule to it. I get up when they do and use a sound machine to fall asleep if they are still making noise at night. I wait for their cleaning woman to finish the back rooms, before Love Bug and I take our naps. Many people say I should just go up there and knock on the door with Love Bug in my arms, and maybe she would feel feel sympathy for me. This probably won't happen because I am not good with confrontation, and she is. I can hear her yelling all day... at her kids, at her husband, and even at the cleaning woman.

I pray for this situation to be resolved, but I also pray for them. Maybe if they have a more peaceful life, that will make our lives more peaceful as well. They get up so early, around 7:00, yet they seem to still be running around trying to leave at 9:00. Maybe that's a lack of organization and I can pray for a more peaceful house. Their younger son, who is only 4, has at least three tantrums, that last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, each day. That's over 2 hours of kicking and screaming most days. He goes to bed around 11:00 and is woken up at 7:00, so I pray for more sleep for him, because that should help. He's probably just very tired. I hear the older boy, who is 10, yell at or even wrestle with his brother, and I pray for his parents to change their aggression, so he can change these dangerous habits before it's too late.

I also pray for the husband and wife, that they have a more peaceful life as spouses, and as parents. Sometimes when the son is wrestling with the younger brother, and then the younger boy starts into a tantrum, I go to another room to get away. I hear her footsteps above me, far away from her children. I think she is trying to get away too and probably wonders how things got this way with her children. When I'm woken up by the couple's fighting, I pray that they can come to a resolution about their problems and sleep soundly with no conflicts on their heart. And with as unfortunately loud as their intimate moments are, I'm sad to say I've only heard this once in the last three months. I find this such an important and joyful part of our marriage and I pray they can find joy and connection here too... just maybe with less vocalization.

So, no, I have no idea if we're here for good. But no matter what, please continue to pray for a resolution for us and for a more peaceful life for them.

House Tour... part 2

2008-04-15T17:01:00.007-05:00

I'm going to show you around our bedrooms today...

This is a view of our bed and dresser, with the balcony behind...

Our bed- at the foot of the bed is a t-shirt quilt that I made with all my t-shirts from high school and college. I'm working on quilts for my husband and my Mom (with my Dad's old shirts).

This is another view across the room with our wedding pictures above our dresser. You can also see our closets... a rarity in Europe... we feel very blessed to have these.

On to Love Bug's room... her dresser, crib, and changing table with all her star and moon themed decor.

A view from the other side of her dresser and armoire with a door out to a shared balcony with us. The rug you see has lots of little stars... some white, some yellow... the white ones glow in the dark!

The other side of Love Bug's room with our extra bed for when she's bigger and some toys...

She has too many clothes- it's ridiculous! At least the clothes hanging are 12 months to 3 years...

I bought the lamp myself and decorated it with moons and stars from the wall border that we bought to match her star and moon decor. We haven't hung the wall border here in case we move soon!

I added a few extra stars that I didn't need for her lamp, but had already cut out, to her lightswitch. Most of them look like this in Italy, so I figure I'll just pop it off the wall and change it with the switch plate in our new place.

Here's where we feel really blessed. We have another small (extra) room and we use it for our washer and dryer and a guest bed.

The other view with our washer and a small washroom in the back.

A picture from the bed with the dresser and armoire we've put in. We also have a dryer just next to the armoire. Again, it's great to have space for all this and we feel blessed. Apartments are expensive here and 2 bedrooms is all we can really do, but this extra "service" room that doesn't count as a bedroom is so nice to have!

We'll continue later this week with the living room and dining room!

A Good Sunday...

2008-04-13T14:59:00.004-05:00

Today, as we were getting in the car after a great church service, all the orange blossoms were out. I can't describe the smell... it was so amazing! If you've never smelled them before, it smells a little like honeysuckle with a citrus, orange smell.

We drove a little ways to a restaurant and had a very nice meal. They gave Love Bug lots of attention and even stopped a few times to coo at her. It's so refreshing to be in a country where they love children so much!

Otherwise, we came home, took naps, and cleaned up a bit. A great day over all. I'll continue with the house tour in a day or two once I get the pictures loaded...

House Tour... part 1

2008-04-10T07:14:00.019-05:00

This is the Bathroom and Kitchen version of the tour... I'm including pictures of each room as well as favorite organization projects.

The is the blue bathroom that Love Bug and I share. I love the bright colors of the towels and accents I already had, so I was happy that they matched the tiles that were already there.

This is one of the cabinets in the bathroom. I'm keeping all the extra towels on the top shelf, extra sheets for the guest beds on the second shelf, and the bottom for extra toilet paper and an extra shower curtain. The other cabinet (not shown) has Love Bug's towels, some extra toiletries, and space for the new baby's towels.

This is B's bathroom, or the red bathroom. We also had a few sets of navy and maroon towels, so they went really well in here. I love the extra hand towels I found with his initial on them (the right side of the picture).

Our kitchen from the doorway. More cabinets extend to the left of the oven and we also have cabinets across from these next to the fridge... you can see them right....

here!

You can see my kitchen scale in the picture... my favorite thing! Cooking is easy in metric because you just weigh everything. So, say you're making a cake... you put the bowl on the scale and zero it out. Then add flour to the correct weight... and zero it out. Then add butter... etc! Simple and no measuring cups to clean up!

The is one drawer in the kitchen that illustrated my believe that sometimes very little organization is the best. I keep paring knives in the far right bin... cheese and veggie peelers in the next bin. The rest I just leave loose, because they're all oversized. Large spice graters, a wine opener, a pizza wheel, and scissors are all too big for any bins I have.

My cooking supplies. We entertain a lot, so we have a lot!

The next two pictures illustrated one of my favorite organization techniques- "putting things in the area of first use". This is mentioned in a lot of organization books, but is completely under-utilized by most people.

I call this the breakfast cabinet. We have all bowls and plates in this cabinet, with cereal and oatmeal just above. Bread is above the fridge to the immediate right, along with glasses and cups in the cabinet to the right. Silverware is below in a drawer and Love Bug's dishes are in a cabinet below this. Breakfast is always eaten at home in our house and I love this cabinet. I really don't have to move much except to take a step to get butter, milk, or orange juice out of the fridge, which is one foot away! It's great for serving lunch and dinner as well, since all plates, silverware, and glasses are in one place!

This is my tea and coffee cabinet. My pretty tea mugs are on the top left and B's big coffee mugs are on the right. On the bottom shelf, from left to right, are coffee filters, equal, coffee beans, and a gallon bag full of 7 different types of tea. The boxes for 7 different types take up too much room, so I condensed! Behind this we have more specialty coffee and tea flavors for guests and special occasions. I admit, I use my specialty teas for myself a lot! But a lot of guests just want English tea or green tea from my mega bag, so I think I'm justified!

I hope you enjoyed part 1! I'll be doing tours of our rooms this weekend and our living room/dining room next week.

Organ Donation: Talk to your family about it today

2008-04-07T02:50:00.014-05:00

I guess I didn't have to look far for inspiration- I found it right here in blog land. I don't know how I came across this website, but their story and their faith in God is amazing. This post, in particular, helped me decide what to blog about today.

If you aren't already an organ donor, please talk to your family about it today. Not just your spouse, but your parents, siblings, and children as well. If you have objections or concerns, read the ten myths about organ donation or stop by Donate Life America for lots of other information. (Thanks to the cfhusband who authors the blog above for these additional links.)

No one in my family has benefited from organ donation, but we are a donor family after donating my father's organs and tissues. As you know, a heart virus killed him, so unfortunately his heart was not donated, but some bones and tissues were used.

It's good to prepare yourself and your family for how quickly everything happens. In the case where the patient is dead before arriving at the hospital, organs can rarely be donated because the body has been dead for too long. They will probably call you within an hour of your loved one passing to ask you to donate their tissues, as in the case of my father.

If your loved one is clinically dead, but being kept alive by machines, you will be approached before they remove life support. This is important for the vitality of the organs, since they must harvest them quickly. Warn your family and prepare yourself for these questions. It's easy to get upset with medical personnel who are asking. As horrible as this moment is, realizing that your loved one will no longer be with you, this is a chance for you (through them) to save lives.

This is a picture of B sleeping with Love Bug. If you look, you can see a green bracelet on his wrist. This is the Donate Life bracelet they sent to our family, along with pins, and information about donation to give to others. We wear our bracelets and pins often, with pride. It helps us celebrate the wonderful decision my Dad made when he added that little heart to his drivers license, and the wonderful decision my mother made to honor his choice.

Updated to Add: You'll see that one of my comments below is missing, deleted. I just want to say for any of my regular readers that saw it, I have moral objections to what was said. The commenter is encouraging people to sign up for an group that puts organ donors on a special list with others who are also willing to donate. Basically, if you need an organ and someone in this special group passes away, you will get their organ if you are the most in need from this special group. It also means that if you die, your organs will go to anyone in this special group who is a match first, then to others who need your organs in the general population.

It may sound like a good plan and a way to get people to sign up for organ donation, but there are still many flaws. I had never heard of the organization until now, so it's a good bet that many others haven't as well. How is it fair (and how is it helping to promote organ donation) if a person's organs go to someone else on this special list, even if someone who is higher on the transplant list (meaning has a higher need) is already an organ donor? It's not... it's not fair at all. Maybe they didn't know about this special group and didn't know to sign up.

I wish this organization would put their energy and their money towards promoting organ donation and changing legislation to make sure more people are encouraged to become organ donors. Most medical organizations and doctors have called this group immoral and unfair. It directs your organs to other people who know about this special group, while meanwhile, someone else who is higher on the list will die waiting. Often, those in need of an organ are the biggest advocates for organ donation and do a lot to help the cause and encourage others to donate.

Anyway, so while you're talking about organ donation with your family and friends (especially since April is Organ Donation Awareness Month), also talk about groups like these and encourage them to warn others. The United Network for Organ Sharing (those who currently handle all organ donations in the United States) does not endorse this group. The need support for their cause, rather than those who want to make organ donation elite.

Complete lack of inspiration...

2008-04-05T15:49:00.002-05:00

I'm often at a loss about what to write about. I always think of things during the day and then by the time I sit down to write, it's gone. Or sometimes I feel the need to write about something and then don't because I feel it's controversial or I don't feel comfortable sharing that much about my religious or political views. Plus, like I've told you all before, I think religion and politics are generally not polite topics of conversation.

So, what to write about next? Here are a few ideas... some are in the works, some are just ideas. What do you like? What do you want me to write about?

- I'm in the process of finishing my organization of our new place. My real plan is to take some pictures and maybe post them next week so you all can get a mini-tour of our place. Even though we might move, it's good to get set up since the move is only across town. The company we've talked to about the move assured us that they could move everything in dressers and cabinets, minus breakables, so that does make things easier if we just get organized now.

- So many people post about book lists of what they plan to read, but I unfortunately don't have the luxury of planning what books I'm going to read ahead of time. I get them from our church, from my husband's job, and from relatives who are nice enough to send me a few now and then. I was thinking about posting about books I have read already and giving notes about what I liked and didn't in each one...

- What about a question and answer. Would you like to ask me questions about Rome, about our life here? What else?

What else could I do?

Maybe it's the pregnancy or the sunny Spring weather, but I have no motivation to blog at all!

Since when was politics a polite topic of conversation?

2008-04-02T17:43:00.004-05:00

More and more these days I've been getting emails from friends and family with political content, mainly referring to the positive or negative qualities of one or more presidential candidates. Sometimes they are forwards about someones voting record, sometimes plugs for a group who needs my support for their cause (including voting for the candidate they support), and sometimes they are just personal pleas for me to vote one party over another.

Okay... someone please help me... when did politics become a polite or appropriate topic of conversation? I think the informality and impersonal nature of email makes people feel more comfortable to share their views. But I find it offensive, even when the candidate they are promoting is the one for whom I plan to cast my vote. I find it offensive simply because most of my friends know that I have strong opinions and I believe I have the right to those opinions. Do people honestly believe that I'll simply read some forward and say, "Oh, I'm going to switch parties right now and vote for this candidate!"? NO... most of us have our beliefs and that should be respected.

Is anyone else getting these emails? Does anyone else find them offensive? Any good ideas of how I could reply to stop these emails, but still be kind about it?

Sorry for the negative post today, but there is good news! We got the results of our nuchal fold screening today (which tests for Down Syndrome, chromosomal abnormalities, and some severe heart defects) and it's a very low risk. To get these results they combine your age, a measurement at the back of the baby's neck during ultrasound, and two different parameters in your blood. My risk was 1 in 1,500 with Love Bug, which is good, and with this baby it's 1 in 5,000, so even better. It's not full proof though, so they'll do a more detailed ultrasound at 22 weeks. We will, of course, accept any child God gives our family, but it's a good feeling that we are blessed with a seemingly healthy baby.

Driving Me Crazy

2008-03-31T06:56:00.002-05:00

Do you remember those drivers education videos that we had to watch? People walk out in front of you, cars are double parked, there are confusing traffic lights, and cars pull out from side streets without regard for stop signs.

That is Rome... everyday. The drivers are crazy. I have never seen so many cars double parked.

The Romans have an interesting technique for pulling out onto a major roads from a side street. They wait until there is a tiny break in traffic. Rather than pulling out quickly in front of you, and being on their way, they pull out just enough so that you can't get by. Forcing you to slam on your breaks and stop quickly. Once they confirm that you've stopped, they will then pull out slowly in front of you and proceed to drive slowly for a few minutes just to prove they've gotten the better of you.

The highways are equally tricky here and they make the autobahn look like a go-cart track. The fast lane is basically for people going around 100 + miles per hour. We've found people that we know were going around 120 mph.

I am a pretty good driver in these situations, which I think is a result of my time in France. Although a will give the French credit for being quick (they would never use the pull out technique above) and relatively safe.

My in-laws were here the past two weeks and they couldn't believe how crazy it was, but they felt that way about France too. Once, as I was going around the Etoile, the huge round-about at the Arc de Triomphe, they were practically panicked and definitely had white knuckles. They said they would never want to drive here.

Fortunately, not everyone feels that way. My mom drove our car in France and I'm sure she could handle it here too. She's lived in Chicago for the last ten years and can handle herself around "the crazies". I'll probably need another c-section with this baby and they tell you not to drive for 6 weeks afterwards, so she'll have to drive me around a little. Did any of you have c-sections? Did you wait 6 weeks last time?

What is the hardest driving you've ever done? Where people are the most aggressive? Have you all ever driven in France or Italy?

Positively Thrilled!

2008-03-28T18:04:00.000-05:00

I have been waiting for 7 weeks to tell you all about something that happened during my blog break (while my Internet was being hooked up).

Photo from the February 7th, 2008... and yes, the dark line is the "am I pregnant? line" and the lighter one is the "test line". So, not only pregnant, but VERY pregnant, according to the test.

I'm 12 weeks and 2 days and due at the beginning of October. B and I are so excited about it and we're sure Love Bug would be too if she had any idea of what was going on. This was not really planned since we had just arrived in Italy and hoped to be more settled before another miracle happened. And it truly is a miracle! We got pregnant with Love Bug after more than two years of trying and lots of praying.

Please keep us in your prayers for a healthy pregnancy, a healthy baby, and a healthy Mom!

How an Easter Side Dish Became an Easter Dinner for Nineteen...

2008-03-26T08:43:00.009-05:00

Last week my husband's boss invited us all over to their house to celebrate Easter. We bought all the ingredients to make a few pans of my favorite potato casserole and planned to head over to their place mid-afternoon on Sunday. Then his boss called last Thursday to say that his daughter was in the hospital with a kidney stone. My husband decided to step up and be the impressive new guy and invite everyone over. Yes, everyone... spouses, kids, for a grand total of 19 Easter guests.

I went to Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday night to make sure I had all morning Sunday to prepare! I'm glad I decided to do this. Despite Easter Vigil Mass being over 2 hours, it is definitely worth it and is one of my favorite masses of the year. There is a bonfire at the beginning, which is shared as everyone lights their candles around the church. The readings and music are always the best and most moving. I thoroughly enjoyed myself this year, even though we spent a lot of the beginning in the dark and I had to console Love Bug through it.

Easter dinner at our place went amazingly well after we bought two big hams, stuffing, green beans, and tons of pineapples for my husband's pineapple casserole. Everyone had a great time, loved our place, and it gave us a chance to host our first get-together here. We love to have parties and this was a great first, of what will probably be many, parties here in Rome. Here are a few pictures of the fun:

Most of the girls gathered around the table...

Love Bug doesn't want to have her picture taken... but Mommy tried!

And the men were in the Living Room...

Why is it that men and women separate at these things? We also had people in the kitchen and children running around the house. It was a full house and a lot of fun.

And if you're interested, here is the recipe for one of the side dishes we served (which was also the dish I planned to take to the original gathering). I got it from my Mother, who got it from someone else. None of us can take credit for it's creation!

Potato Casserole

Heat oven to 350 F

30 oz. frozen potato cubes, small (or you can use hash browns)
1/2 cup green onions, chopped fine

1/4 lb. melted margarine (1 stick)
1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup crushed corn flakes

4 tsp. melted margarine (1/2 stick)

... and pepper to taste

Thaw potatoes and then mix with green onions, margarine, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and salt. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 pan and spread evenly. Then sprinkle with crushed corn flakes, and drizzle with the margarine (4 tsp.). Bake at 350 F for 45-60 minutes, usually closer to 60 minutes.

Enjoy! And I hope all your Easter celebrations were as good as mine!

Love Bug's First Easter Egg Hunt

2008-03-21T16:32:00.010-05:00

Love Bug went to her first Easter Egg Hunt. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we had a great time!

Love Bug is greeted and gets a lollipop while waiting for the Easter Bunny.

Yeah! The Easter Bunny!

Mommy explains the hunt to Love Bug, so she knows what to do...

"Pick up the egg..."

"Oh, I get it now, Mommy!"

Putting her eggs in her little pink bag...

My husband's co-workers participating in the Bunny Hop Race. Yes, some people fell, some people got hurt, and yet the little kids in the race made it unscathed.

A very happy girl is ready for Easter!

The 2008 Rome Marathon

2008-03-17T05:35:00.011-05:00

Here are some pictures of the Marathon. For more info about my husband's time, etc. see my post from yesterday.

One of the arches over the raceway... at kilometer 36.

Our cheering group poses for a picture... Love Bug and I are in the bottom left.

Here he comes!

Finish at Piazza Venezio and around the Colosseum.

This man was running near my husband the whole race. Every time we saw him the whole cheering crew would yell, "Go, Caesar, Go!"

The Marathon Man with his medal.

After the race... Love Bug is distracted, but we're both very proud of him!

My Marathon Man!

2008-03-16T19:25:00.002-05:00

My husband did a great job at the Rome marathon today! He ran it in just over four and a half hours, which is about what he planned. He only walked once on the second to last hill for about a half mile, but other than that, ran the other 25 + miles! Love Bug and I are so proud.

I'll post more tomorrow and put some some pictures, but just wanted to let you all know and thank you for any prayers you said for him.

That's love...

2008-03-15T19:11:00.006-05:00

Me: Honey, I love you a lot.
B (my husband): Now how to I know that? (In a joking tone.)
Me: I would've booked a flight a long time ago to take Love Bug home until our search for a new place was over and we were moved.
B: What do you mean?
Me: You've heard how loud they are upstairs. You're the only reason I'm staying... now, that's love.
B: (laughing)

So, no, the neighbors have shown no improvement and it now seems that it will be someone else's problem in a few months. We will be getting out of our rental and into another place once we find something that we like (while investigating the noise level thoroughly). We've talked to a lot of people, both Italian and American and all have agreed that this is not a good fit for a stay-at-home Mom with young kids. Wearing their hard shoes on hard wood floors just doesn't work when we need nap times, and neither do their hours: roughly 7:30 am to 1 am the next night. They wake me up and my husband up (and he is a very heavy sleeper) around 7:45 am every morning and if we can manage to get to bed before they come back there, we can get in about an hour or two before they wake us up with their fighting and/or other (intimate) activities that I care not to talk about.

In happier news, the Rome marathon is tomorrow. My husband is all ready for his first marathon. He's got his energy packs and bib (number) laid out with his clothes, warm-up suit, band-aids, and vase.line. He's got spiffy new red shoes that he's been breaking in, so we should be able to find him by looking for the shoes. Given how long Love Bug can last at these types of things, we're going to head over to one part of the course at noon tomorrow to see him around mile 20, then at mile 22-23, and then the finish, mile 26.2. Pray for him and think happy and fast thoughts for him tomorrow!

Health Care in the United States (actually France), part 2

2008-03-14T09:02:00.008-05:00

Read part one of this post here...

I have seen the movie, Sic.ko, and while I don't particularly like Micha.el Moo.re, I do agree with much of what the movie says about health care in France...

It really is that good.

We were not in the socialized medical system in France, since we did not pay French taxes. But, most of our friends were part of the system and I have first-hand knowledge of many French families and their situations. They weren't just wealthy families who could afford private health care. We had friends from the lower middle class. People who lived in studio apartments and didn't have much for extra luxuries, especially not private medical care. In other words, we had a broad view of people and situations from which to draw conclusions about France's universal health care.

Almost everyone I talked to was happy with the system in France. The thing I obviously heard about the most was childbirth and obstetrics, since most of my friends were around that age. Not only did they have all the same tests that we have in the States, they actually get more specialized ultrasounds with an obstetric radiologist. They also have better postnatal care, with uncomplicated births staying in the hospital for 4 days and woman who have had c-sections staying in the hospital for a week. Cost is not important in the length of the hospital stays- patient health (mother and baby in this case) is paramount.

My husbands job is very concerned about the Americans who work for them and our health care while we're living overseas. They will pay to send you back to the United States if a serious medical issue comes up while you are living overseas. From most countries where we could live, being sent back for even minor surgery is expected. But that's not always true in European countries, especially France. We knew two different people who were treated for cancer there. One woman, after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer that was spreading, stayed even though she was perfectly fine to travel. She explained that the hospital in her French neighborhood was a well known cancer treatment center and people came from around the world to use their new treatments. This is further proof that the care we received there was not at a lower standard that what we would've received in the United States. I had my daughter there and had a great experience as well.

People always ask me about two things regarding the medical care in France. First, they ask about private doctors and "don't you have to pay extra to get good medical care?" Public doctors, who charge the same as what the government will reimburse, are very good. Having gone to a few of them myself, including a dermatologist and family physician, I can say they were professional, very knowledgeable, and many did fellowships with hospitals in the United States or United Kingdom. Most people I knew had regular doctors (who are completely FREE) and all still received an amazing standard of care. Public hospitals (again FREE) are the same standard of care as we have the United States and I assure you, are very nice.

Private doctors can charge a little more than what the government will cover, and the patient pays the balance. They may become private because they have more experience, but often they just charge more for being in a better neighborhood, having a nicer office, or speaking a second language for those who can't speak French. They also get the privilege of practicing at private hospitals. Private hospitals are amazing- with gourmet chefs, extra comfortable linens, private rooms, and they often have massage therapists and beauticians on staff.

The other thing people ask is about cost. Yes, the French pay around 40% of their income as taxes. This sounds high, until you realize that Americans pay around 25% to 30% in taxes and if you are wealthy, even more than that. When you add the cost of your health insurance premiums (which come out of your salary before you even get your pay check) and co-pays, emergency room cost, and dental cost, which are usually not covered well by insurance, most Americans spend another 10% of their salary, on average, for health care. Suddenly, our costs look very similar to the French. And they have other amazing social programs. Help with daycare costs for working mothers, and special tax breaks for having more children. If you own a small business or are a small farmer, the French government helps you out with subsidies if you have a bad year. They take pride in small business, family, and their tremendous social programs.

But don't worry... those who work hard and do well are still allowed to be wealthy. My husband has a few high school friends whose parents are doctors or own successful businesses. I've been to their 5 or 6 bedrooms homes, with pools in the back, and seen their 3 or 4 cars parked in the driveway. Being socialist does not mean taking from the rich and giving to the poor. It simply means that everyone is taxed at a slightly higher rate, so the government has a cushion to protect those who fall on hard times.

Susan had comments on my last post about socialized care in Germany and the issues there. I recommend going to the last post and reading what she has to say- she clearly knows the issues in Germany and what troubles they are facing. I've also heard about some issues in Canada with waiting months for treatments. These are definitely things to consider and read with care. As for France, I have to respectfully disagree with anyone who says it isn't working there. It really does work. Carrie had a post about universal health care, inviting discussion, and I hope this will answer concerns of some of her commenters that universal health care has never really worked. It does, but obviously all the elements have to be there.

Now let me just say on thing before you go crazy- I'm not saying the French have it all figured out. Some things they do are infuriating and they have plenty of problems in their country and goverment. I'm also not saying that we should immediately switch to nationalized health care, but I just want to illustrate that in one place, the system runs smoothly. Just some food for thought. It will definitely be on my mind when I vote in November. What do you all think? What scares you about socialized medicine? Do you think we should at least provide care for children? What obstacles must be overcome before we attempt this?

Works-for-me-Wednesday: Great cake idea

2008-03-12T17:21:00.000-05:00

I can't take actual credit for this idea... it's not mine. But I use it a lot and have found it so useful, so I had to pass it on.

This idea is based off the fact that I often use a mix to make my cakes and then make the icing myself. It still has a homemade taste, and requires a lot less work! As I'm mixing up the cake mix, I keep just a few pinches of the powder mix in the bag. I save it until I'm ready to pour the batter into the pan(s). I use butter or butter-flavored Cri.sco to coat the pan first and then I sprinkle the leftover cake mix powder around the bowl. When it's done baking, the cake slips out of the pan(s) so easily, but has none of that ugly white residue from the flour.

I do have one homemade cake recipe that I use occasionally. It is for a chocolate cake, so since I don't have a cake mix, I use cocoa powder. As for what to use with vanilla cake, carrot cake, or spices cakes, I don't have a secret yet. Anyone have ideas for that?

Using cake mix as a flour substitute works for me! Visit Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer for more great ideas!

Health Care in the United States, part 1...

2008-03-10T13:00:00.000-05:00

As promised, I have been thinking a lot about health care, since I was thrown back into the American system last fall. This is not political writing, just my impressions of our system, as well as the socialized system in France. If you are inspired, please share your views and I'll be happy to read them with an open mind and heart. Every one's opinions are important, it's what makes our country great, and I want to hear what others have to say about socialized medicine. It's important in the election this fall and something we all need to look at openly...

So, here's my story of my medical care in the United States:

The day we arrived in the United States was pretty uneventful, but I do remember Love Bug crying more than usual. I just thought she was tired. By our second day, she was fussy, not eating, and just generally seemed to be in pain. I tried to call doctors in the area for an appointment, but had trouble. I heard things like, "we aren't taking new patients" and "you have to have a baseline physical before you can come in for sick care... can you go to your regular pediatrician?" No, lady... I can't go to my regular pediatrician, because he's 3,000 miles away in France.

Finally, we gave up on calling pediatricians since it was getting late and we went to the emergency room out of desperation. We were charged $241 for the visit and another $264 by the doctor who NEVER EVEN SAW US or SPOKE A WORD TO US. A nurse practitioner saw Love Bug and doubled checked with the pediatrician before giving us a prescription. What was the horrible diagnosis that require $500 in medical care?

An ear infection. And the $500 was not covered by our insurance because we have to meet a $1,000.00 deductible per year for the Emergency room before they will pay anything. Since we were living in France, with socialized health care until the day before, we obviously hadn't met that deductible yet.

Fortunately, we live comfortably and can afford this. But what about those who can't? $1,000.00 is a lot for most people. $500 for an ear infection is obscene. What about those who are poor, who have no insurance, and don't know anyone who makes a living wage?

Well, the even better news came a few weeks later... we hit our deductible! I was told to have a flu shot, so I headed to the local grocery store/pharmacy for mine. They were offering the pneumovax (for pneumonia) as well, and since I had suffered with this a few times in my life, I decided to get one. Well, my arm started aching an hour later. By 9:00 pm (6 hours later), my whole arm was red, hot, and swollen... as well as sore. We decided to go to the emergency room, since no clinics nearby would treat this kind of thing (they handle ear infections, bronchitis, etc. only). It was a bad reaction to the vaccine. I waited for two hours before I was only seen for 5 minutes. My bill came a few weeks later for almost $600. Since we only needed $500 more to meet the $1,000 deductible, our insurance covered $100 of it. Gee, thanks...

I also had my teeth cleaned and had two fillings done with a local dentist who was a approved provider with my insurance. For the cleaning and x-rays I was charged $120, and for the fillings, I was charged $180 and $165 dollars respectively. These were fair charges based on the area I was in at the time. My insurance only paid $14 for the cleaning and $28 for each of the fillings. I brush and floss regularly, but was blessed with our family trait- soft enamel. Dental health is being paraded in the media as "vital to physical health, especially of the heart". But not vital enough for my insurance to cover apparently. Oh, and by the way, my x-rays weren't covered since I had had them one year earlier. They only cover dental x-rays every two years.

Again, we are okay and could cover these expenses, but what about the families who can't? I don't have some obscure insurance... I have blue c.ross/blue sh.ield.

Obviously, we need something better. I'm not convinced that socialized medicine will work on a large scale in our country, because we are so lawsuit-happy with malpractice, but I would like to at least see some pilot programs for children. No parent should have to decide between treating a child's illness or putting food on the table. I'll post part 2 of this post later this week, about experiences with socialized medicine in France. You can judge for yourself. Their system works well in France, but would it ever work here?

At the Park...

2008-03-07T06:14:00.008-06:00

Love Bug's favorite place in the world is the park... any park, as long as they have baby swings and a slide. Here are some pictures of one recent visit. I usually take her myself everyday, but this was a weekend so Daddy and Nana (my Mom) were with us too.

The swings are her favorite. The moment we get to the park she starts pointing at the swings and screeching excitedly. I think it's funny how upright she sits and holds onto the front just like this every time.

The slides are definitely a close second. She will gladly plop down feet first and take off before the catcher at the bottom is even ready. Her smiles are huge as she slides down and she has no fear about it.

Peeking through the play structure...

Another peek... she was having so much fun playing peek-a-boo with Nana so Daddy could take a picture.

We start heading home and she cries. The only way Daddy can calm her down is to put her on his shoulders for a ride!

Do your kids like the park? What is their favorite thing there? As for us, I think Love Bug will gladly move anywhere in the world for Daddy's job, as long as there is a park nearby. I think we'll have to put in a swing set anytime there isn't one.

And she will also certainly love roller coasters like her Mom and Dad.

Backwards Works-for-me-Wednesdays: Cutting your toddlers nails?

2008-03-05T04:09:00.003-06:00

Love Bug is 16 months old and hates when I cut her nails. I have to work on it all day when I can catch her or wait until my husband gets home and have him hold her while I do it. I do it quickly and have never cut her, so I don't understand why she would hate it so much.

Does anyone have any advice for cutting her nails? A way to get her to sit still? A game so she'll think it's fun? Anything would help!

Need some help yourself? Stop by Rocks in my Dryer, hosted by Shannon, to get some advice!

Help... Really Loud Neighbors!

2008-03-03T06:57:00.005-06:00

Please help us! We love our new place, but have found our upstairs neighbors almost impossible to live under. Keeping in mind that we have all hardwood or marble floors in our building, here is what we hear daily from their place:

7:30 am- They are getting ready, drawers slamming, dropping things.

8:15 am- They all put on hard-soled shoes and continue to wear them until they leave an hour later.

Around 9:30 am- The cleaning lady arrives and proceeds to clean the whole house for the next three hours, moving furniture with LOUD scraping, vacuuming under it, and then moving it back. She comes every day... Monday to Friday.

Noon - 2:00 pm- The family comes home for lunch and we have a chorus of chairs scraping and kids running up and down the halls in hard shoes.

2:00 - 4:00 pm- This is supposed to be a mandatory rest period every afternoon and the kids are fortunately back at school, but the Mother is often loud.

5:00 pm- The kids arrive home and proceed to run up and down the halls for two hours.

10:00 pm- The kids running before bed, sometimes waking Love Bug up in the process. When confronted about late nights they claim to always put their children in bed by 9:30 or earlier... ha ha.

1:00 am (or 2:00 am on weekends)- Dad stomps around for 15 to 30 minutes before getting in bed.

Not only is this difficult to deal with, since we would prefer a nice long stretch of 10 hours to sleep at night, but it also cuts into Love Bugs naps on many days. The constant noise is an assault on my ears, but can also make life difficult for a stay-at-home Mom. So, given this level of noise, we finally complained and someone from the building management called the neighbors for us. Their response was that they were sorry and would try to be better.

Our hopes were quickly dashed! Around midnight we heard something coming from our bedroom as we headed off to bed. They were fighting above our bedroom... loudly... really loudly. Also, to our surprise, there was a third voice other than Mom and Dad (we have also heard them at 9 or 10 pm)... it was there older son, who is ten years old. Ten... yes, TEN! Not only were they fighting with a ten year old, but it continued until after 2 am. Let me assure you that pigs will be flying in a frozen hell before I am ever going to fight with my ten year old. I will be a fair Mom, yet, the dictator of my house, none the less. So, this explains the constant running by their other child, a four year old boy... they clearly have no control over either of them.

We are hoping to move to another place in a few months and have started looking, but until then what do I do? Any advice on how to handle this? How to muffle some of the sounds? How to ignore it and sleep anyway?

I also need advice on how to handle my own anger over the situation. Don't be too worried, because I'm pretty intimidated by them (their fighting and loudness makes them seem very confrontational and scary) and I'm not the type to confront someone or start a fight. I just need your prayers for forgiveness. The noise makes me mad and I sometimes treat my family badly because of my anger. I also don't play with Love Bug as much when we have a bad night and I'm tired. While I'm angry at them for being so loud, I can't help but feel angry at myself for letting them ruin my home life.

Step One... Unpack and Get Organized

2008-03-01T17:04:00.002-06:00

We have been working on getting everything organized and in place over the last few weeks. I wanted to share some pictures from beforehand so you could see how much we've progressed. I'll post the after pictures at the end of the week.

This is our Living Room and Dining Room... notice the piles of boxes and hoards of baby stuff looming.

The kitchen is not too bad, but you can't see the crazy unorganized drawers and cabinets. I'll have to post pictures of those now that they look so pretty.

Our room isn't actually looking much better, but hopefully it will by the end of the week!

Love Bug's room is pretty bare here, but at least it's put together.

I'll post more pictures of how organized we are at the end of the week.... hopefully I won't be lying when I say organized. Anyway, check back tomorrow too, because we do have one issue with our new place and we need some help!

My Husband!

2008-02-29T03:00:00.003-06:00

I saw this on Jacquie's Blog and wanted to try it too!

What is his name? B....

How long have you been married? 6 years on July 20th!

How old is he? 30

Who eats more? B and I both love food, but he eats more.

Who said I love you first? We said it at the same time actually. It was a perfect moment.

Who is taller? He is, by about 10 inches!

Who can sing better? That's not really fair since I was a choral music major, but I would say he also has a nice singing voice.

Who is smarter? I think he is, but he always reminds me that I got a higher ACT score.

Who does the laundry? I do most of the time, but he's been known to help.

Who pays the bills? Me also.

Who sleeps on the right side? Me.

Who mows the lawn? We don't have a yard!

Who cooks dinner? He does and he's a wonderful cook.

Who drives? He does, but that's only because I never know where I'm going.

Who is more stubborn? Probably me.

Who kissed who first? He kissed me first.

Who asked who out first? We were friends for awhile before so it's hard to say. I invited him to come over and watch a movie and it was our first time alone without our big group of friends. He asked me out on our first real date.

Who proposed? He did, after I had a horrible day at work. We had dinner at my favorite restaurant and asked me when we were laying in bed getting ready to go to sleep.

Who is more sensitive? Me, but he's always been really considerate of my feelings.

Who has more siblings? He has three... I only have one.

Who wears the pants? We share them. It takes two of us to keep our crazy life in Europe going.

Consider yourself tagged if you want to join in the fun!

Be Afraid.... Be Very Afriad!

2008-02-28T08:44:00.004-06:00

I have now been back online for two days and there is only one place I haven't ventured so far... my Google reader account. I have all my favorite blogs linked and it's my one-stop place to catch up on what everyone is doing. But after being without Internet for almost a month, I'm terrified. It will be so full. I'll have hours and hours of reading material ready and waiting. Normally, I'd love this, but with a 15-month old and lots of stuff to unpack, it doesn't sound so appealing.

I'll be back with an update on how bad it is... probably in another month when I'm done reading!

***Update***
228 posts to read... not as bad as I expected, but it will still take me hours! Some of you are very long winded!

More to come...

2008-02-26T04:25:00.000-06:00

I'M BACK! We finally have Internet after only waiting for over three weeks. (Only was, yes, very sarcastic in this sentence.) What's worse... we didn't wait as long as many of our friends, so I guess we should be thankful! A lot has happened over the last few weeks, but I've also had time to reflect more on what I want this blog to be in my life.

I had originally started a blog to share our life in Europe with family and friends and to keep them updated on Love Bug's progress, though those topics were certainly never exclusive. Now, I find that I'd like to really branch out into a few other topics, like these...

1. Conservation- it is a big part of living in Europe and something I'm really passionate about.

2. Organization and Living Simply- it is another big part of who I am. I started this blog after living in France for three years, so my apartment was pretty organized. I'm very excited to share my progress with you as I unpack and simplify our new life in Italy. I'll definitely have to work on my balcony garden too (you can see the one in Paris here).

3. Crafts- I love to work at creative solutions to make my home more comfortable. I have three big projects coming up when we get more settled: more scrap booking, working on some quilts, and of course reusing things (like corks) to make something crafty. See a few of my projects here...

4. Recipes- Yes, my husband usually cooks, but I'm the best taste-tester there is and I LOVE to bake. I enjoyed sharing my homemade cookie shortcuts and making my own baby food.

Now if I can just find the time to blog everyday!

Checking In...

2008-02-13T06:10:00.003-06:00

We still don't have email, but supposedly soon. I have a lot to share and so many pictures of our process to post. I'll check back next week if we still don't have internet... miss you all!

Do you want the good news or bad news first?

2008-02-03T17:28:00.000-06:00

So, I'll start with the bad news. I need to take a blog break. I need time to unpack and get organzied. It also just so happens that they are connecting our permanent, fast internet sometime in the next two weeks and we won't have internet anymore until then. Why it takes so long, I don't know.

The good news is that we love our new place and are in the process of unpacking. I wanted to show you all some before pictures, so you have something to compare them to when I post the after pictures in a few weeks.

This is the living room and dining room facing the foyer...

And another view facing out to the windows.

The kitchen... notice the hole on the left by the balcony doors... that's where my new dishwasher is going to be starting Tuesday. I did decide to get one afterall. It will help make sure our dishes are really clean. I will still cleans pots and pans by hand to save room for more dishes, so I run the dishwasher less.

Since our bedrooms all look basically the same, this is a view of the built in closets (rare in older European apartments)...

And a view of the other side of the bedroom with the window and balcony door. We had our window shades down so you can't really see outside but we have trees and some very pretty buildings around us, including a church with a lovely bell tower.

One of our three bathrooms... this is the "blue one". We also have one known as the "red one" and another known as the "little one".

I'll see you in a few weeks- take care until then! Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Look at me... I'm getting greener!

2008-02-01T11:28:00.000-06:00

I forgot about one of my favorite ways to be greener and I didn't include it in my post about reducing household waste. Many companies are now offering e-bills or ways to get all your correspondence online. We have done this with most of our accounts and it's saved us a huge hassle and is saving trees as we speak. Go switch to e-bills today! But, please make sure you have 128-bit encryption on your browser, good firewalls, and rotate your passwords monthly (this is my computer-geek husband talking). Thank you to Carrie because we've been "trash talking" via email and it keeps me thinking of new great ideas! ("Trash talking" was Carrie's genius description of our correspondence!)

Want to go one better? If you have a card or account with cit.iba.nk, you can change to e-bills and they will plant a tree for each account that is switched. I read about this online today and it looks like a great program. G0 here to check it out...

A few notes for today...

2008-01-30T10:35:00.000-06:00

For Works-for-me-Wednesday, scroll down or just click here.

Our car came today! My husband actually drove it already to get gas... granted it costs about 7 million dollars to fill up a tank here, but at least we're mobile. Look out, Italy!

Our household goods are arriving from Paris tomorrow morning! After four long months, I will again be able to lay on my very comfy couch and sleep in my very comfy bed. Most of my other stuff is in boxes, so that will take awhile to find...

Carrie- I saw your comment about apartment pictures on my last post and wanted to let you all know that I will be posting them soon! I already have before pictures of our sad, empty apartment, and as I unpack, I will post the progress of the rooms over the next few weeks!

Cheri- I figured out how to spell check our posts. Go to your dashboard and switch your language to English (UK) and it will work. You may have to do it every time you log in for awhile, but it will stick eventually. My husband tried to explain it, but I stopped listening after "... system recognizes the URL as... " blah, blah, blah...

As a woman with not much to do in a very empty place, I have been listening to a lot of CDs on our laptop. I bought the Enchanted Soundtrack and wondered who sang song number 4. It's Jon McLau.ghlin, so of course I bought his latest album Indi.ana, and love it.

Works-for-me-Wednesday: Entertaining Baby/Toddler with Very Little

2008-01-30T03:37:00.000-06:00

In a complete exercise of self-torture, my husband and I have been in the process of moving from France to Italy for the last four months. Yes, four months! (It's an issue of getting residence visas and apartments set up, etc.) In the meantime I've only been able to entertain Love Bug with what I could carry in our five suitcases and three carry-ons. Here are some great tips for surviving trips of any length with a baby. Or just ideas if you want some new playthings and don't want to spend a lot of money. Most things I just made and left behind as our suitcase got packed again.

- We made different noise makers. I let a few water bottles dry out really well and added things from the kitchen to make noise- rice, cereal, pasta. Rice so far is her favorite and she still carries this particular bottle around.

- I also filled some bottles with water and either added food coloring or fun objects. One person we were staying with had glitter, and that was entertaining for hours.

- Love Bug loves paper, but she often chews it and swallows pieces, which I don't like. But after she got a hold of a few Christmas photo cards, I noticed that she just liked to carry them around and look at them. She didn't chew them and probably couldn't tear off any pieces if she tried. So, try some pictures that you don't care about or photo paper that printed incorrectly.

- I filled one of these small CD cases with some of her favorite music. Most of our rental cars had CD players and they were great entertainment in people's homes as well. We don't plan to let her watch TV until she's a bit older, but you could also fill it with DVDs as well.

- Babies around Love Bug's age (turning one year) love to put things in containers and take them out. Since her favorite blocks set was way too big to put in a suitcase, we made our own. Using a bowl or a tin with a lid, we added small jewelry boxes, empty spools of thread, and other small objects (obviously make sure they are too big to fit through an empty paper towel roll, to prevent choking).

- During our stay in a hotel room, a favorite thing was to let Love Bug jump on the bed, holding onto my hands. She loved it and since it was a "special treat at the hotel" she's never tried it again, and my back thanks her for it.

- We went to the mall a few times just to play in the play areas and watch people. The socialization and entertainment was worth it, and being breastfed, the colds she got were minimal.

- If you don't have Internet on your trip, search beforehand for things to do in the area. We found lots Christmas light displays since it was the holidays, but we also saw lots of year round activities. Also search for playgrounds in the area or ask your family. Most of the time they'll have a baby swing or two for you to use... and of course they can run around and get your assistance in going down the slide.

Wants some other great ideas? Visit Works-for-me-Wednesday, hosted by Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer.

Big Giveaway This Week...

2008-01-29T04:00:00.000-06:00

This week over at BloggyGiveaways.com Shannon from Rocks in my Dryer is hosting a big giveaway carnival. Go visit! I have participated in a few myself, but since we just arrived here and are unpacking the next few weeks, I think I'll sit this one out. Go visit and get some free stuff.

I will probably participate next time, and I would want to giveaway something local... possibly Roman, or Italian at the very least. I can't send wine, because the customs duties would be outrageous. I've already done chocolate. Cheese would rot... see the difficulty I'm having?

So, does anyone have any suggestions? What would you like from Italy?

Oh, and speaking of Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer, she is going on a trip with Compassion to LiveBlog her experiences in Uganda. She has specific prayer requests here, and there are links so you can read more about what she is doing. If you don't already read her blog, stop by and say some prayers for her. And stop by in a little less than two weeks to hear about her experience on the trip.

To wash dishes or not? That is the question.

2008-01-26T16:44:00.000-06:00

Our new apartment in Rome doesn't have a dishwasher. I knew this coming in, but figured it would be okay. I washed dishes in college and when we were first married, so I can easily do it again. Many people I met here have eventually bought one and I, always the martyr, thought that I was too good to cave in and it would be good way to live simply.

Well, life with a baby is definitely different and our meals are more elaborate. After two weeks of washing dishes upon mounds of dishes, I'm tired and my hands are a wreck. Not only are my knuckles dry, but a few of them actually have cracks. I know that I'm probably using water that is too hot, but I won't back down on that. Using hot water kills more germs than anything. On top of that, we actually have space next to the sink where the previous tenant had a dishwasher, so that all but clinched it that we should get one to fill the hole in the kitchen!

Am I totally ridiculous to want a dishwasher? What uses more water... a dishwasher or my hand-washing the dishes? Conservation is important to me. Keep in mind when you answer this that when I wash dishes, I would say I'm moderate on water usage. I wash each one, turn on the hot water to rinse, and then let them air dry. As for dishwasher use, I only run mine about every five days on the energy saver cycle. I always wash pots and pans myself to save room so I can fit more plates, bowls, and cups in the dishwasher and use it less.

Money is not a factor in this decision. We can afford one and will probably sell it when we leave. What should we do?

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-01-24T16:04:00.000-06:00

I'm 29 today... and I don't think I like it. Late twenties almost sounds worse than thirty when you say it. Thirty has a nice ring, but late anything just sounds like you're old and slow.

Oh, and go wish a Happy Birthday to my "Birthday Twin". (I love that expression, Carrie!)

Speaking of being slow, what is wrong with my spell check? Does anyone else have a problem with it not working? I click the button and it doesn't do anything. Any advice is appreciated...

If i speall evrythang rong, pleez forgive mee.